I was thinking it might be fun to list the issues we’ve had with our own names. So many times when I’m working on a post, I’m thinking, “Hmm…a potential issue with this name has occurred to me—but will it actually BE an issue?” When I named my own babies, I worried about many issues that never turned out to be issues; and I neglected to worry about things that DID turn out to be issues. But even the things that turned out to be issues didn’t turn out to be big deals.
And that’s a point I’ve made here before: that just because something’s an issue doesn’t mean it’s a deal-breaker. EVERY name comes with its own set of issues, potential issues, and non-issues. The quest isn’t to find a completely issue-free name, because those don’t exist; the quest is to find a set of issues you and the child can live with. I think a list of the issues we’ve had with our names will first create a panicked feeling (“EVERY NAME IS IMPOSSIBLE!!”) that will then lead to a soothing calm (“If EVERY name has issues, that means we can focus more on what names we LIKE”).
So! I’ll go first. My name is Kristen, and here are the potential issues and whether or not they’ve been a big deal:
1. It belongs to a cluster of similar names: Kristine, Christina, Crystal, Krista, Kiersten, Kirsten, Chrissy, Kristy. This can lead to name confusion/mistakes. This is an ongoing minor issue that hasn’t turned out to be a big deal. I do dislike being called Kristine, because to me it’s so different than Kristen. But I get the confusion and I don’t get upset about it. One teacher in high school called me Kiersten all year long, and it was at most a minor annoyance.
2. That particular group of names is quite time-stamped. Non-issue. Lots of parents want to avoid names that belong to a particular time period, but I like that when someone hears my name they can be pretty confident I’m parent-aged, not child-aged or grandparent-aged. Probably none of us want to have/use a one-year wonder, but almost all the other names just DO belong to a particular generation.
3. There are a lot of ways to spell it. If I’m telling someone my name and they have to write it down, I always say it “K-r-i-s-t-E-n.” It gets misspelled sometimes anyway. My own GRANDMOTHER sometimes spelled it Kristin. This is an ongoing but very minor issue—minor enough that I gave three of my five children names that always have to be spelled. And I find it gives me an increased enthusiasm for my own spelling: when someone gets it right, I get a little rush of happiness.
4. I don’t like the nicknames Kris, Krissy, or Kristy. Non-issue. Even growing up at a time when my peers faced an uphill battle if they wanted to be called Rebecca and Nicole instead of Becky and Nicki, people didn’t often try to nickname me. One set of grandparents called me Kris, and so a few other relatives on that side of the family call me Kris, too, and for me that falls into a different category than if co-workers or friends tried to call me Kris: I LIKE having a special family-only nickname. One teacher in high school was notorious for nicknaming, and he called me Kris, too. Nobody tried to use Krissy or Kristy, except for the school year I chose to go by Kristy because there were two Kristens in my class. (Part of my willingness was adoration-based: my beloved teacher’s daughter was named Kristy.)
5. It’s pretty common: if we combine the spellings Kristin and Kristen, it’s a name given to more than half a percent of baby girls that year—the equivalent of a Top 10 name today. Non-issue. In all my single-classroom years (kindergarten through grade 8), there was only one year of two Kristens in the class. Even in high school, where I was in six or seven classrooms a day, I don’t remember repeats. Occasionally there would be a Crystal or a Christina, but those didn’t feel like the same name at all. I like having a name people are familiar with, though I will say I’m grateful not to be a Jennifer: for every Kristin/Kristen born at that time, there were about seven Jennifers (making it about four times as common as today’s #1 name). Interestingly, one of my parents’ concerns with the name was that it might be too unusual: my grandparents, for example, had never heard of it and thought it was a little weird.
Your turn now, if you like. Is your name common/uncommon? Time-stamped, either to your own generation or to the “wrong” generation? Hard to spell/pronounce? Easily confused with other names? Is it the kind of name where people say, “Oh, like ___?,” or automatically make the same joke/reference? Does it rhyme with or sound like something awkward? Were you teased about it as a child? Is it a good/poor fit with your personality? Do you have to fight off a nickname you don’t like? Is it the same name as another family member’s? What are some of the things someone could have wondered about at the time of naming, and have those turned out to be issues or not?
If you keep your real first name separate from your online identity, you can comment anonymously so you can tell us the name without connecting it to your online self. Or you could just list the issues without telling the name, but that will drive us all wild with curiosity—and, experience suggests, also lead to Guessing Games.
1. My real name is Sophia. This gets confusing at school (I’m 16) and I dislike Sophia.
2. It’s so popular. Even though I was born in 1997, and Sophia was only 96 at the time, I still know so many around my age. I go to a school with 4000 kids, and have to go by Sophie K in at least one of my classes. During my freshman year on the golf team (which had only eleven girls) I was one of three Sophie’s, and one of two Sophie K’s. It get frustrating and confusing.
3. It’s going to sound REALLY dated in the next few decades.
4. As a baby name lover, it is kind of my worst nightmare to have the most popular name in the country.
5. People don’t understand my frustration with this. My mom was born in 1969, and my dad in 1970. Their names are JENNIFER and TODD. You’d think they’d understand, since practically everyone’s parents on the block have their names. But no, they just like to remind me that they had no idea about Sophia’s popularity, and how it’s a beautiful name.
Overall, I do like my name, but I would like it so much more if it wasn’t so popular.
I think that is common. My parents named me Melissa in 1980 and my brother Justin in 1982 and had absolutely no clue that it was popular. I think in this day and age of the Internet it’s easier to tell, but that doesn’t mean everyone would look it up.
ps. My ex has a baby girl named Sophia, that they are calling Sophie and until reading what you wrote, I found it kinda odd. Ha.
So I will be the first Emily to give the obvious issue: popularity.
Although I was born about 10 years before Emily hit #1 I always had another Emily in my class and now as a college prof I usually have at least one or two Emilys. This is really a minor issue and I have never really minded being Emily last initial. The joy of nearly everyone recognizing and being able to spell my name in this country more than offsets the annoyance of not being a special name snow flake. This convenience guided me in the choices I have made for my children
The other problem with Emily is that outside the US especially in some countries I work in the short E sound at the beginning of a word is difficult. I find this more annoying, but not unmanageable considering that I have the foreign name. I am certain I have botched some friends names which were unfamiliar to me, especially names that have tonal significance.
I am a much older Emily, so I had the opposite experience. No one had my name, and it was considered very old-fashioned. (There were a lot of Jennifers, Michelles and Cheryls in my classes growing up.) Also, I don’t think Emily really lends itself to a good nickname. The only one I’ve ever heard is the one from the Wizard of Oz: Em.
I’ll play! (I am at most weeks away from naming a baby myself, and have had NO serious discussions about this with my husband, so I’m both obsessed and looking for distractions LA LA LA.)
My first name is Gretchen.
I like it but I feel that basically every other variation of it is more attractive to the ear, at least in English.
It was not fun growing up with such an unusual name because my sister’s name ended up being VERY common, and there were tons of personalized things available for her and precious few for me. I also would have loved a nickname, but the “Gretch” that most people try ONCE is…horrific. That said – meh. I use “G” as a nickname when it comes up, and joke with people that everyone gets one “Gretch” and then we agree that they will never address me as something that sounds like/rhymes with vomiting.
Gretchen is lovely when pronounced in German (GREAT-hyen), but I can’t imagine that would have really worked if we’d tried it here (I live in the Midwest).
Sometimes people haven’t heard of the name at all, so I get “Rachel” or “Bridget.” No biggie. A lot of little kids haven’t heard of it, so I get amusing mispronunciations. I picked “Auntie G” for my nieces and nephews because it seemed easier and I enjoy the “Auntie Mame” vibe.
My middle name is VERY common and also a family name. Recently I heard some rather crappy things about said family member that changed my feelings about being named “for” her…but it’s such a common name with lots of OTHER positive associations, and I don’t really get the sense I was named AFTER this woman so much as, this is a family name that goes well with Gretchen.
The biggest “issue” about my name would be that it doesn’t lend itself to nicknames and that it ended up being much less popular than my sister’s name (though I wouldn’t say they are different styles, really — just the equivalent of sisters today named, say, Hazel and Abigail – technically, those names are of an era, but one is likely to be much more appealing to today’s parents than the other). Neither was horrible, but it HAS influenced my naming choices so far – I try to keep names in the same SSA ballpark, and I like them to HAVE pleasant nicknames, whether or not they’ll end up getting used much.
I am so amused that we both get called each other’s names, and Rachel. You have a rather splendid name so that one I’ve never minded much.
I rather like Gretchen but completely understand the “Gretch” issue. Probably a moot point by now, but did you ever consider trying out Greta as a nickname? Love Greta.
You know, in German Gretchen is a diminutive of Grete, which itself is a nickname for Margarete. So to me as a German speaker it makes a lot of sense that there would be no further nickname to it… ;-)
My SIL, Gretchen, was named for her mother, Margaret. “Little Gret”. She uses the nickname Gr.
As the aforementioned sister of Auntie G, let me simply say that she has never experienced being in a grocery store at age thirtysomething and hearing her name shrieked every two minutes by a frazzled mom — who, as it turns out, is not yelling at me, but rather at her four-year-old. >:P
Also, I named my daughter Eleanor, which is both a family name and a name I love, but it did not occur to me at the time that a) “Ellie” and “Emily” are perhaps too similar (especially when my husband and son are both “John”; WE ARE CREATIVE, YO); and b) most people who don’t know us assume, based on our names, that she is the mother and I the daughter.
1. Unusual Spelling: I got a lot of Bridget, Brigitte, and Bridgette. Sometimes when I spell my name people swap the G and D, can’t figure out why. I get mail regularly to Bridid and Bridig. But when I say “yeah, it’s an old Irish spelling” people react really positively.
2. Teasing: I’m 5’0″ now, but when I got called Bridget the Midget as a kid my primary irritation was “but that’s not my NAME!” I was a bit concerned one of the cleverer bullies would call me Frigid Brigid or Rigid Brigid, but apparently there were no cleverer bullies. Has never been an issue.
3. Tumbling over consonants: Sometimes, especially when I was sleepy as a child, I had trouble with the BR running into the G and getting swallowed. Got a lot of “Gretchen?”s for a while there. Which brings me to…
4. Mishearing: I cannot tell you how many people have called me Gretchen, Rachel, and Brittany. And Rebecca, but that one I can’t explain.
I still really adore my name.
Brigid is my daughters middle name, after her Irish great-grandmother, and it always throws people for a loop. They see the spelling and for some reason just can not handle the d at the end, it’s not a big deal for her, since it is in the middle position, but I could definitely see it getting annoying.
I agree with you on the rush of happiness when someone gets the spelling of your name right…this is actually something that makes me nervous when people contemplate naming a child after a relative, but tweaking the spelling to make it more modern/conventional/something. I’ve spent so much of my life as Kerry NOT Carrie that having a namesake Carrie would be a real “Huh?” moment for me. (That I would immediately get over and realize that the intentions were pure, but still.)
Other issues with Kerry:
1) Sharing my name with others has bothered more and less at different points of my life. In elementary school, the other Carrie/Karis were mean and I felt like Kerry, NOT YOU. In college, I think I just wanted to be more unique than I was. Now at my job the other Carries are really nice and impressive women, and I oddly don’t mind being one of them so much.
2) If you swap out the Rs for Ls and add my maiden name, you get a paint store. I don’t think this ever occurred to my mom while naming me, but I think it’s upped the number of people over my lifetime thinking my name is Kelly significantly.
3) There was a brief moment in the late 1990s when a really bad sitcom had a character with my exact name (minus middle). And then it got cancelled, and nobody ever noticed but me. But it gives me empathy for the guy I work with named Will Turner, and makes me glad my married last name is slightly less common.
4) Part of why my name appealed to my parents was that it honored our “Irish” heritage. Except we’re only a quarter or maybe an eighth Irish, four or five generations back…I think it would be more meaningful to me if they’d chosen to honor a less tenuous connection, but I still like my name and like the reasons that they picked my name that are based on its sound and the feeling they got from it, even if I’m glad that they didn’t name me Irish McIrishson.
Non-issues:
1) My mom apparently worried a lot about whether Kerry was a real grown up name and not too cutesy and little girlish. I have worried about this exactly 0 times in my life, despite being the kind of person who would hate to come across as cutesy and little girlish.
2) The name Kerry definitely dates me. As a name nerd, it’s kind of funny to notice which people’s parents also jumped on the reclaiming Irish heritage bandwagon (Hi Caitlins, Kellys, Colleens, and Erins! And Seans and Colins too), I think I know more girls my age whose names start with a hard C sound than those whose don’t, and I can’t think of a single person I’ve met with my name more than ten years older or younger than me…but none of these things actually bother me in any way.
Piggybacking to say I HATE the confusion over spelling. I have to spell it out to every customer service person every dang time! And they assume a spelling most times so they usually try something else first and then ask me to spell it after searching some thing incorrect.
It’s often heard as Mary or Terrie to older people, I also get Perry at times. Carebear and Hairy Kerri were annoying when I was younger but I don’t get that anymore. I hate that it’s dated to a certain era but that’s hard too avoid with most names, really. I dislike that it’s “really” a male name. Oh and the fact that it sounds like the verb carry is awful. I pretty much time tune out my name in public since its such a common word i don’t think people are addressing me. I also hate when southerners call me Miss Kerri. Terrible! I guess the only thing I DO like about my name is being able to ironically go as “Carrie” for Halloween.
The rhyming issue is actually the last thing that occurred to me right after I posted…I have a Larry, a Terri, and a Cheri in my family. Go another step out and you can also add in a Mary and a Jerry. It can be a tad bit confusing sometime. (But not as bad for me as for my uncle’s second wife, whose name rhymes with his first wife’s name, which means it took a decade for people to get over saying Jim & _____ out of habit).
In middle school, we read a book about Japanese samurai, and our teacher pronounced harakiri like hairy kerry, so that made me miserable for about a month. The Kerry/carry puns were mostly made by people I liked, so that was just kind of meh. And now I kind of like being able to joke about being a verb. When I was younger, I thought it was “cool” to have a boy name and I sought out evidence that the spelling Kerry was more masculine than Carrie or Keri…but now I appreciate that it’s not so masculine that I worry that people will think my parents were anti-feminine. They picked it as a place name (County Kerry, Ireland), but I suppose it could also be a unisex surname name (John Kerry), or a spelling variation of a female nickname name (Carrie for Caroline), or a feminization of a traditional male name (Cary), or an earlier version of the Aiden/Jayden/Cayden/Hayden phenomenon…so really, there’s something to hate for just about any kind of name nerd = ).
I totally never noticed the Miss Kerry problem until now…I guess I will avoid the South.
I’m a Kerri also, and the biggest issue I have is pronunciation. My mom named me & my family calls me more “Keer-ee” than “Carrie”, but the difference is so subtle that I almost never try to explain the difference in my professional life. I like the pronunciation my family uses better, and it feels like a different name to me than Carrie.
My name is Homa Lea-named after my grandfather (Homer) and aunt. I have always had to spell my name (H-O-M-A ) and added an aid (like Oklahoma ). My family moved around a lot and I was the pause when teachers took roll. A big issue for a shy kid. I was a teenager during the late 60s when gays were called”homos” so that wasn’t fun. I have tons of other funny lines. Overall The honor of being named after two favorite people plus having an unique name has outweighed any adolescence angst. The Lea name has been continued with a daughter, niece and granddaughter. Pretty sure Homa wont be used in my lifetime!
My name is Rachel. Honestly until I started trying to choose names for my own girl (due in May) I’d never given my name too much thought. I don’t love it, I don’t think its the prettiest name out there– but it is mine and I don’t have bad feelings about it either.
It is/was fairly common. #13 in my state the year I was born, which means more babies were born in my year in Ohio named Rachel than the MOST common girl name of 2012. But still it was hardly an issue. I never had another Rachel in my grade until high school, when there were 2, but we were never “Rachel C/M/T” because at that point we rarely had classes together and if there was any confusion a teacher would use our whole last name. I will say though in my adult life I feel I run into a ridiculous amount of Rachels. One of my best friends married a Rachel whose best friend’s name is also Rachel. So his life is pretty confusing. But when we’re together our own husbands call us by our pet names (honey/dear/what-have-you) and the other people call us Rachel so I really only need to look at who is talking to know if they are talking to me.
I’d say my least favorite thing about the name is lack of an obvious nickname. Some people call my Rach but not with any consistency and I don’t love it and it doesn’t FEEL like a real name. My husband has the same problem. His name is Brian and Bri just sounds weird. I call him B when I talk about him and am too lazy to use his full name, but he always just refers to me as Rachel. Not a huge thing because our names aren’t terribly long, but for some reason I always wanted a nickname-name.
Oh also! So many people spell it RachAel. Annoying but I’ve spent my whole life spelling my last name out anyways so not really something I care much about.
I’m a Rachel, too. Just this week my brother-in-law wrote an email addressed to Rachael. Boo.
I like being a Rachel. It has never felt super common and I think it seems like a great fit for a strong, competent woman. You can imagine a President or Supreme Court Justice or CEO named Rachel.
The name I was most often mistakenly called while growing up was Heather.
1. JENNIFER
The end.
Actually other than it being crazy common and being super jealous that my mom didn’t agree to the family name Julia or push for her own preference of Alicia (why did she tell me these were considered??? I’m still mildly annoyed at her). Plus my sister’s name is Natalie, which was super uncommon at the time. But as I’ve gotten older, the commonness factor has faded because I’m around a greater cross section of ages.
But I have only one other complaint:
2. The nickname Jenny. I don’t mind other people being called Jenny but I am not a Jenny and so many people have tried to use it for me. Now even my 5 yo son likes to try to call me Jenny because he’s big on adding the -y to the end of everyone’s names right now. I just ignore him when he does it.
Everything Jen said. To add, I was born in ’72 in a smallish northern town in Ontario. My mother claims to have never heard of another Jennifer…how is this possible?! Makes me crazy to hear that story.
My mom had a Sarah in 1976 and says she thought it was so unusual and special. She was SHOCKED that it turned into one of the most common names of that generation.
Yep. Another Jennifer, right here. Born 1985. There were always at least three in my class. My middle name is Elizabeth, which sounds lovely together, but neither name had any meaning whatsoever to my parents. They just thought they sounded “nice.”
And to add insult to injury, my brother got the AMAZING family name Gordon. Not only was it unusual, and a big hit with anyone who heard it, but it honors my grandfather. And his middle name, Scott, honors his father (my stepfather). He’s always loved it, and I’ve always been jealous.
ha – I’m Jennifer Elizabeth too!
xx
Yet another Jennifer here, born in 1977. In one of my classes in high school, there were EIGHT Jennifers. There was one Jennifer at my school who also had the same last name as me, and sadly, she died young in a car crash. I had many distraught messages on my answering machine that day.
I actually prefer Jenny to Jenn for myself (and when I am called Jenn, for instance by family, I prefer two Ns), so of course EVERYONE calls me Jen. It annoys me that most people don’t even ask if I mind, even if they only just met me. I’m sure this happens with many other names, as well.
My sister is named Jessica, and you can guess how many Jennifer/Jessica sister sets there are.
The name is so common that to me, it’s lost any association or vibe and has become kind of a blank slate. I can’t even tell if it suits me because what is it, really? If I can manage to think about it objectively, I can see that it’s a beautiful name, and I understand why so many people liked it (my parents also say they had no idea how popular it was), but that’s hard to do.
I’ll also add that it gets misspelled surprisingly often, considering how common it is. I’ve gotten a lot of Jenifer and Jenniffer.
My name is Ariane. It is the French version of Ariadne, who was the princess in the story of the Minotaur in Greek mythology. There is a French rocket program named Ariane.
1. It is really uncommon, which I love.
2. It is not dated (time-stamped), which I love.
3. It is hard to spell and pronounce. It is more likely to spelled and pronounced wrongly than correctly. Growing up, I was routinely called Adrianne, which I didn’t like. It commonly gets spelled with two ” n”s by people, including family members. My parents didn’t use the French pronunciation, except for on occasion by my mom, so that makes it easier to say “it’s like Marianne without an M.” This little example didn’t get pointed out to me till way too late it life. :-)
5. People have said “oh, like the Aryan race?” Or “is that one of those new age names?” I don’t like either of those thought paths.
6. Only one person I have met has made the connection to Ariadne and I loved that.
I’m Suzanne. I’ve never loved my name, and as a child always wished it was something more classic (and common) like Katherine or Elizabeth.
It does have a dated feel. My parents used it in 1983, when it was in the middle of a large decline.
People confuse it for Susan a lot. I usually just let them call me Susan. It’s also often mispelled Suzzane. I’ve never met a Suzzane and I think Suzanne is the common spelling, so I have no idea why people do this, but it happens a lot.
I also grew up with a last name beginning with S, and had a slight lisp, so it was hard to say my double S name, but it wasnt an issue once I was 12 or so, and now I’m using a married name.
My high school friend Suzanne didn’t like the nickname Suzie, but eventually gave up fighting it until she got to college. I think the band Siouxie and the Banshees softened the blow a bit, because she thought it was a little edgy =)
I’m also a Suzanne, born in 1982. I really like my name. I did want to be a Katie when I was growing up, but now really like having a less common but not totally unfamiliar name. And except for one weird year where there were three of Suzannes in my orchestra, I never had to use a last initial.
I never thought of Suzanne being popular enough at any point to be dated or time stamped, though I guess I would have thought of it being more of my parents’ generation (Sommers, Pleschette). I actually now think of it as classic, and I like that (I think) people can’t guess my age by my name. I’m in a profession where I’d generally prefer to seem older or more experienced to people, and I like that my name doesn’t immediately place me in a certain demographic.
I get Susan sometimes, generally when someone is reading my name for the first time, but I always correct them and rarely have a hard time with people I see more than once. I am emphatically not a Sue or a Susie (indeed, this was one of the reasons my mom named me Suzanne rather than Susan). The only people who have called me Sue or Susie were moms of elementary school friends. (One of whom had a heavy accent so I didn’t realize what she was saying for several years, and the other who just would not be deterred despite the fact that she regularly confused my own mother who just did not know who this Sue person was.)
The only people who misspell my name are my husband’s extended family, who also go for the Suzzane spelling. I have no idea why – I’ve never seen it spelled that way. I do always have to spell my name for new people, the doctor’s office, etc., but doesn’t everyone?
Kids in elementary school used to sing “Oh Susannah” to me, which I HATED, but that pretty much stopped by third grade. And may have just been one kid.
Different Suzanne, same issues. I find that it is RARE for people to spell or pronounce it correctly. And I am also not a fan of the “oh Susannah” thing.
It is nice to typically be the only Suzanne around, though.
My name is Patricia and I was born toward the tail end of Patricia’s huge popularity (it was a top 10 name for over 35 years). So I have always known Patricia’s my Mom’s age (and older) and had at least one other in every class going through school. Even now at work, there are several of us.
The only thing that ever bothered me about my name is its popularity. I never had any issue with the full name being spelled wrong. I liked the fact that were several nicknames (Patty, Patsy, Pat, Trish, and Tricia) and I have gone by each of then with different people or at different times in my life, I liked that my full name clearly identified me as Irish American. I liked that I had a formal and respectable know to put on legal documents, job applications, and resumes.
I didn’t like that each of my parents had a different preferred nickname and I felt like choosing one over the other expressed a preference for one parent over the other.
My name is Brenda.
I was born in the mid ’70’s.
I generally like my name because it’s easy to spell, say, etc. It’s a common name but I didn’t grow up being one of many Brenda’s.
I do have some issues with ‘date stamping”. I often go to appoints and someone will say “oh you are younger than I expected”
I don’t like when people call my Bren. My husband only calls Bren and my best friend but I don’t like when others shorten my name.
I will say that I was an identical twin. My twin did not survive birth. Her name was Barbara. I much prefer my name.
I am a Kathryn. Now, I was born in 1984, so all of the Katherine/Katharine, Catherine, Kathleen, Katie, Katy, Katelyn/Kaitlin and Kates from that era? Made it as common as Jennifer in my school experience. There were 9 of us in My graduating class alone. I went by Katie until college, and my maiden name was Johnson. Yeah. Talk about a common name. The worst part of having such a common name was at medical appointments, when staff who were not paying attention would just pull a random “K. Johnson” chart. When I was 16, I had to point out the completely incorrect birthdate on a chart to convince my family doctor that she had not sent me for an EKG.
I am named after my paternal grandmother, whose middle name was Katherine, and my middle name is Morgan, which I have always loved. My dad refused to let my mom use it as a first name, because Morgan Johnson made him think of a linebacker. Why, I don’t know. Prior to my marriage, I had the same initials as my grandfather, father, and younger brother, who all have the middle name McKibben. That was my favorite part of my name, and something I was sad to let go when I had my first child (who is named Keegan, so at least I got to keep a “K” for him).
In spite of my ridiculously common nickname, we are naming our daughter (due in March) Ellen, and likely calling her Ellie. So apparently I’ve not been completely scarred by being “Katie J.” For 22 years.
I love my name, but it is frequently misheard. The most common mishearing is, of course, “Cecilia,” and I don’t mind it or always bother to correct people. (In fact, I’m named after my grandmother, whose middle name was Cecilia, not Celia.) I’m also called Selena, Serena, and what seem to me to not be names at all but, instead, people’s interpretations of my name, either in writing, e.g. Silia, or spoken, e.g. “Sella.” I sometimes find myself frustrated when people don’t know the name at all because, while “Celia” isn’t popular, it’s neither new nor unconventional. I also find that people from South America and some parts of Europe want to pronounce it SELL-ee-ah, when it is usually pronounced SEAL-ee-ah. Over the years I’ve been called Cee, Ceel, Ceels, and Cece. No one’s ever tried “Lia,” which surprises (and relieves) me a little. My parents liked Celia because they thought it couldn’t be nicknamed (ha!) and I’ve never loved any of the variations, but I like that only certain people have used them, so it’s sweet that one uncle always called me “Cee” and one friend always calls me “Ceels.”
My last name begins with a sibilant sound and many have told me that they like that repetition of sounds. But I’m not convinced; I think it’s a bit much. My parents did choose to call me “Celia” and not “Cecilia” expressly to reduce the sibilants, so thank goodness for that! Also, I suspect this is silly, but I don’t love that my given name and surname don’t go together culturally. I was nearly Clara or Emelia, either of which would have been better matches for my surname. On one hand I think I prefer being a Celia to either of those contenders (hooray!) but on the other hand I feel ambivalent about names in general: it’s a signifier, a handle, it isn’t ME… though sometimes I’m not so sure of that.
Oh, and over the years people have often sung Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” to me. A little embarrassing, but I’ve never really minded!
Celia is on my list of favorites for a future (as-of-yet-uncreated) daughter, so I’m so glad to hear you like it!
I’m Sheri
1) Odd honor name – I was named after my father’s sister, Sharon, who passed away in childhood – I kinda thought that was creepy as a kid, especially as I approached the age that she died, but I like the idea of honor names…
2) Being named a nickname – when I was younger, people asked what Sheri was short for and I had to tell them nothing or go with the longer story about the deceased relative, which was awkward. I do wish my parents had opted for Sharon and called me Sheri, though Sharon would’ve dated me a bit (early 70s baby).
3) Many spelling options – I commonly go ahead and spell my name when I have to give it with the “one R one !” It always seemed like the minimalist spelling choice with options like SHERRY and SHERRIE and even SHARI of Lambchop fame out there.
4) Ugh, the song references – parents, if you’re going to choose a name that has songs associated with it, make sure they’re especially likeable, because the kid is going to hear them all.the.TIME. Frankie Valli’s Sherry Baby and Steve Perry’s Oh Sherrie are NOT pleasant in constant response to sharing a name. Granted, I cant grouse about Steve Perry as much because that song came out after I was born, but the Valli one is worse and came along long before I did!
5) Uncommon – In my part of the world as a child I was the only Sheri (of any spelling), which was kind of cool. I’ve run across some others as an adult, moving from Virginia to a bit further South (NC/SC) and we’re all around the same age range. I do remember wishing I could find one of those plastic license plates for my bike with my name printed on it, but it wasn’t something I mourned over!
My name is Alex. Issues are as follows:
1) Boy or girl? Upon hearing or seeing the name Alex, most people will assume boy. I am a girl. This has been a issue, but a funny one. I used to go on summer camps to the same place every year, and every year I would be put into a boys’ dorm instead of a girls’ one, in spite of the ‘F’ in the gender box on my form. It was run by the same people every year and every year I would turn up and they would go ‘Alex! How nice to see you. Now let me have a look and see where… oh, they’ve put you in with the boys again’ and it would be sorted instantly. People have also asked me if my parents wanted a boy, which I deal with by saying ‘no’. Not an issue.
2) Confusion with other names. People sometimes mishear my name as Alice if I am introducing myself. I have got used to saying ‘Hi, I’m Alexxxx’ with a lot of over-emphasis on the ‘cks’ sound at the end. Occasionally someone will still mishear and I correct them. Not an issue.
3) What’s it short for? So many people ask if it’s short for Alexandria. It’s not, it’s short for Alexandra. Which I tell people. Some of them forget and keep on referring to my official name as Alexandria. I let it slide after one attempt at correction, unless it is someone official who needs to know. Not an issue.
4) Calling me by other things. I have a whole host of nicknames from family and friends, but when referring to me no-one has ever tried to called me Ally or Sandy or Lexie, for which I am grateful. People also don’t call me Alexandra, which I have never gone by. Actually, a man at the homeless shelter where I volunteer has taken to calling me Sandy or by my full name because ‘it’s such a lovely name’. My grandfather has also always called me Alexandra for the same reasons, which I don’t mind. It’s a special thing between us and is so well understood in my family that it is comment-worthy if he calls me Alex. Not an issue.
The biggest thing I think for me is the gender ambiguous nature of my nickname, which what I have always gone by since I was born, but people are corrected and once they know you in person they know if you are male or female. Plus officially I am Alexandra so there is no confusion legally. Although on an official medical document my name was once printed as Alexander, right next to the middle name of Rachel, but what can you do?
Swistle, I am very curious now: which of your children’s names always have to be spelled?
The names I use here are pseudonyms.
I had no idea! Are they in the same style as the pseudonyms? (Our kids share a name/pseudonym, so my assumptions are expanding rapidly.)
No, quite different! I chose the pseudonyms impulsively for the main Swistle blog; I would have chosen differently if I’d realized I’d one day have a baby name blog.
Can we ask what you would have chosen?
A better style match would have been something like Ian, Riley, Clarissa, John, and Aaron.
Hah, this is so funny and mildly startling to me! The pseudonyms are so style-specific that I think I always assumed I understood something about your naming style that I can now see was totally wrong. You learn something every day. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. :)
I’m a 1979 Jennifer that goes by Jenny. The popularity has never been an issue. Until 10th grade, I was the only Jennifer in my grade and there was maybe 1 or 2 in the grades below and above me. No big deal there. Honestly, I haven’t run into too many in the years since either. That’s why if I like I name that is ranked in the top 10, I will have no issue in naming my kid that.
When I was stupid and in middle school, I kind of wished that I spelled Jenny “Jennie” or “Jenni”. Both are spellings that I thought were cooler than “Jenny”. I know someone that switched how she spelled it and I am glad that I didn’t.
I find that a lot of people call me what a Jennifer in their life prefers….if they know someone who likes only Jennifer, they call me Jennifer, same with Jen. I find that kind of weird, but not annoying.
The only issue is that I like the name Jenna and my name means I can’t name a future daughter that.
Fascinating. My name is very similar to yours, and while I experience similar issues, I rank them very differently
1) dated. This is THE biggest issue for me. I really don’t like feeling so inextricably tied to an era.
2) common. I knew a lot of people with my name or very close. I didn’t prefer it, but it wasnt a big deal
3) nicknames. Non issue. I sometimes went by a nickname by choice. Sometimes I didn’t bother to correct what was written on the official list. I had no problem getting people not to use a nickname ( apart from a few idiosyncratic and rarely seen relatives). It would have been a problem if I seriously disliked the given name, as every school year starts afresh with corrections, and some teachers are more diligent about it than others.
4) spelling. Non issue. I did have to specify spelling, but I also have to specify it for my crazy-common last name, so I think everyone does. It is convenient that the name is common enough that I rarely have to specify every letter or spell it more than once.
5)meaning. I’m enough of an athiest to be a bit bothered that it has the word ‘Christ’ in it. This bothers me more than nickname and spelling issues.
1979 Amanda here. Even in our tiny town I was always Amanda R in grade school. Or back then Mandy R. I was able to transition to Amanda in middle school, but sometimes people still try to call me Mandy. I good-naturedly tell them I don’t use that name, but inside I’m all, “Do I look like a little girl?!”
In high school I was one of 5 Amandas in a class of 134 students. Then when people couldn’t always keep our last names straight, they would use descriptives. *cringe* But I guess being Quiet Amanda or Nerdy Amanda or even Loser Amanda was not as bad as Raging B__ Amanda or Stuck Up Amanda or Slutty Amanda.
That is pretty much the only thing I don’t like. Amanda is easy to spell and pronounce (for most people, anyway. Some people are determined to find alt spellings for every name.), is clearly feminine, does not sound like a… ahem… dancer’s name, could always be found on souvenirs, and once you take Mandy off the table it doesn’t lend itself to many awkward nicknames. (Oh, how I hated being called Handy Mandy…) People can usually guess my approximate age, but I don’t mind that. Still, one of the reasons I chose Catherine for my daughter was its timelessness.
My name is Liv. People confuse it with Liz all the time. I always have to spell it, and even then, “v” rhymes with “z” so I have to say “V as in Victor”). I don’t think I’d mind spelling it so much if people didn’t still get confused even after spelling it and still call me Liz/Lib or mis-pronounce it “Live” as in, rhymes with “dive.” I always have to try to make a decision about whether to correct someone or just let it go. Am I ever going to see this person again? Or should I just let them call me Liz? Now that Olivia is popular, more people are familiar with the name, so I get a lot of — “oh! Is it short for Olivia? My granddaughter is Olivia and we call her Liv.” Which isn’t bad I guess, but I am a cynical old grump, so I find myself thinking “Of COURSE your granddaughter is Olivia — you and every other grandmother in the U.S.” Oh, well. Honestly, I didn’t mind my name as a kid; it’s only as an adult that I’ve started to lose my patience with it.
Great topic, Swistle.
My name is my posting name, and for most of my life, I’ve loved having it because I felt it so totally suited me and reflected my personality. I am pretty much a no-nonsense, tomboyish, direct, ultra-responsible, spare, dry humor & honest type. I usually don’t like anything extra around me. (Those who know me would attest). I’m also unusually short, and I’d feel ridiculous having a name that was long. Really, the only other name I can remotely imagine wanting/having is Ruth. I like that Ruth is Biblical and classic, whereas Gail is merely derivative. But that’s just a quibble, one with which it’s easy enough to live.
The only thing I dislike about Gail is how, over the course of my life, it’s gone from being pretty cool to wicked uncool. All the little Abigail’s going by Abby are partly to blame for this. I keep wondering: Aren’t any of them ever going to rebel? How can they stand the too-cute Abby? The other thing making it uncool is that it’s of course a marker for my generation, a boomer name. But when I was younger and in school, it hit that sweet spot of recognizable, memorable, yet never a top 20 name. It was, and is, never mistaken for another name. In other words, it never attracts attention at all, something else I love.
No nicknames. Again, I’ve loved this. There was a very brief phase when other kids in the neighborhood tried teasing me with Gaily-Whaley, but I was too skinny a kid for that to stick. I didn’t even need to protest–the consensus seemed to be that it was lame.
I like that there are spelling variations–Gale, Gayle, Gael–to me, they add depth, interest, and possibility to the name. Because none of these spellings are more popular than Gail, though, I almost never need to spell it out. For the same reasons (depth, interest, possibility), I like that it used to be a male name, and may yet again be a male name with the character Gale from the Hunger Games.
The other names my parents considered for me were Karen & Julie. Possibly I could have made Karen work, but Julie? No way.
Even though I don’t use the Gale spelling, I like its stormy meaning–that there’s a possibility of wildness and mystery a mere step away–a possibility nonetheless there for those who ponder such things. I’m more comfortable knowing this is only a remote possibility, not an actual reality.
But if I was born now, I’d want to be called Wren. It has many of the same characteristics as Gail, but is considerably more feminine and poetic.
Gail will rise again! I’m going to peg it as part of a cohort of midcentury names (like Nancy, Susan, Deborah, Beverly, Sandra, Sally, Judith…) that will sound very fresh in about 15-20 years. The kids being born now will need something to revive, since they’re all being named pre-1940s favorites like Sophia, Hattie, Hazel, Clara…
I hope you’re right. We’re planning on giving our daughter (due in May) the middle name Beverly because I really love my grandmother, but it’s nice to think that by the time she’s 15 or so she might think it’s pretty glamorous.
I know some a very cutting edge art/fashion couple who just used Lois for their newborn as her first name. They’re the kind of people who would have picked Scarlett or Violet 20 years ago. The revival of that era is on its way. I think Beverly is a sweet middle name!
I know a little Judith, nicknamed Judy, who has an artistic/unconventional mother, and I find it a delightful choice. I think you’re right about these names’ coming revival.
My name is Colleen and I’m in my mid-twenties.
1. I love that it’s not very dated; I’ve met new babies named Colleen while my mom’s best friend is Colleen. It works for all ages =)
2. My last name was very Irish, so I loved the Irish first and last name combo. People always got a kick out of that.
3. I very rarely met other Colleen’s my age. In my high school of 2,300+ kids, there were only two other Colleen’s I was aware of and they weren’t in my grade. I went to a traditionally Irish university and met a handful of Colleen’s, but still never had another Colleen in my class.
4. Spelling troubles. This always made me a bit sad for humankind. Over the years, I’ve seen Kolleen, Coleen, Collen, Koleen, Colleene, and Calleen. Don’t try to make it harder than it really is.
5. Different pronunciations is something I’ve run into in the past few years. Growing up in the Midwest, most people pronounced it “cuh-LEEN” (which unfortunately led to teasing like “COLLEEN! CLEAN MY WINDOWS, YOU MAID!” which sounds lame but stung quite a bit in kindergarten). But once I went to college and met people from around the US, I learned that everyone else pronounces it as “CALL-een” which I like much better. Friends from home will always say it the Midwest way, but I introduce myself as CALL-een now.
6. People seem to have a hard time with it the first time they hear it. I’ve been called Cailin, Colin, Pauline, Holly, Polly, the list goes on.
7. Nicknames are rather awesome. Some friends call me Colls (“Calls”) and I love it. Other than that, you really can’t make a nickname out of Colleen. A few friends tried Leen but I shut that down quickly.
Overall I’m pretty happy with my name. When I was younger, I didn’t like it at all and I wanted a name like Sarah or Emily so I could buy a name license plate, but now I’m a big fan of my name. I don’t think I’d give it to any of my kids, but that’s just because we have cooler family names that I’m eager to pass on.
1980 Jennifer here! Everything the others said!
In HS there was only 1 other in my grade but everywhere else I was 1 of many. In college there were 6 of us in a 40 person class.
Apparently it’s hard to spell. I just corrected someone the other day… Jeniffer??? I go by Jenn and am often asked if it’s spelled Gin. I live in the south but am from the north so when I say my name it rhymes with Sean Penn (as opposed to a pin you see with) but that seems to add to the confusion. I often have to repeat my name numerous times when introducing myself. No one gets it. All in all I have always disliked my name. It doesn’t sound like a real name to me.
I grew up in the south and would pronounce Pin and Penn the same way–how do you say them differently? I wonder if that is part of the confusion!
I would pronounce “pin” with the same vowel sound as “in”, “interest”, “tin”, “win”. “Penn” would be more like the first syllable in “penguin”, as if there was an h in there– PEH-N. Does that make sense?
Oops, I also meant to say that “pin” has an “ih” sound and “penn” has an “eh” sound. But I also say Mary, merry and marry differently!
I grew up in Texas and always said them the same way until my Pennsylvania-born husband couldn’t figure out what I meant when I asked him to hand me a pen!
1. Real name is Katrina…which wasn’t so much of a problem prior to 2005, now all I hear is oh, like the hurricane. Yes, my parents had that in mind when they named me twenty years prior to that.
2. I have actually never gone by Katrina but by the nickname Kati instead. Yes, no e or y, just I. That has created more problems than anything. Versions of Kati(e) were so popular, I still find myself having to explain why it’s just Kati and in the digital age of email and Facebook, everyone still spells my name wrong, including my own family.
3. Going strictly by a nickname has created a third set of problems. Legally I am Katrina but for everything else, I am Kati. I can’t even sign the name Katrina and if someone yells Katrina, I won’t even turn my head.
In hindsight I wish my parents would have used both names more as I was growing up. I wouldn’t change them for anything, they are both my names, but it has given me much to think about when naming my own children.
Oh – this is a great topic!
I’m Rebecca, a name which has remained comfortably in the 30s and 40s of the SSA list forever. Overall issues with the name:
1) Nicknames: I hate Becky. Like someone else said, I don’t mind other people being Becky, but I am *not* one. Overall, this has been a non-issue. Most people go with the name I introduce myself with, and a simple correction usually does the trick with anyone else.
2) Misspelling: This has been a bigger issue than I would have expected – People love to use 2B’s and 1C, or add an H at the end. Since none of these are a familiar/common spelling, I have to assume it stems from the person’s own unfamiliarity with the name.
3) Rachel: I get called Rachel *all* *the* *time*. By people who know me/my name, and people who have just met me. Biblical and starting with R must be the reason? Interestingly, I work with a Rachael, and she says that’s her biggest pet peeve about her own name as well, so the reverse seems to be true also.
Neat question!
Yes! I get called Rebecca a lot as well. Such a strange little quirk. It used to annoy me but now I find it really funny!
Rebecca & Rachel are my husband’s two favorite girl names. Who knew they could be one & the same :)
I’ve always loved the name Rebekah! And Rebekah is my preferred spelling. It is the original spelling from the KJV Old Testament, so I wonder why Rebecca became the common spelling? I wonder if the variation in spelling is not just people’s unfamiliarity with the name, but rather the diverse options of how to spell it! I know several Rebeccas/Rebekkas/Rebekahs, all with those spellings! When unsure, I just go with my default (Rebekah) because that spelling was the first one I encountered. : )
On the other hand, my husband, who is NOT a name nerd, spelled it Rabeca when entering it in his phone for someone. I couldn’t figure out who on earth he meant! He’s not the world’s greatest speller ; )
I am a Rebecca and I really like my name. No one calls me Becky (which I really dislike), and I rarely run into someone else with my name. It’s familiar enough that everyone knows how to pronounce it, and almost everyone knows how to spell it (although I do sometimes need to say “it’s one B and two Cs…”). I feel like it doesn’t date me too much (I was born in 1978) and is wearing well. Apparently my parents’ alternatives were Courtney, Jessica, and Hillary, so I think I did okay.
The funny thing is that my sister, who is less than two years younger than me, is named Rachel. So, I do get called Rachel a lot, but it’s often by people who know both of us and just get mixed up. But, every once in a while it’s by someone who doesn’t know my sister and it makes me laugh. I usually just say, “Oh, it’s actually Rebecca, but Rachel is my sister’s name, so you’re close!”.
I’ll add that my younger (by 6.5 years) brother’s name is Mathew, so we’re a Rebecca/Rachel/Mathew sibling set. Sometimes people remark on how biblical that sounds, but I never realized it when I was a kid, because we never went to church, not even for Easter or Christmas. And I don’t use “never” in the sense of “rarely”. I actually mean we never once went to church. We went ZERO times. So I suppose that’s an example of parents who just really liked names and decided to use them, even though some people would think it’s too much of a theme.
(Love the blog, Swistle!)
My name is Brenna, which has always been pretty uncommon. I don’t feel like it’s connected to any particular time period, but if it was it would be after I was born, 1978 (so I’d seem younger, yay!). I never met anyone my own age with the name, the few times I’ve heard it, it’s been on kid at least 5 years younger. I haven’t heard it on anyone else since I left school.
There are the standard mishearing and mispronouncing issues. I get Brenda or Brianne or Brianna. I was misheard as Greta once, which I then decided was my alter ego. Spelling is pretty straightforward, usually if people understand me, they can spell it without a problem.
I like my name, I like that it’s different but not super out there. I have no idea if my parents considered this kind of stuff when they chose my name. I know I was supposed to be a Brian if I was a boy, and Barbara (family name) was another contender. I happy with what I got.
I’m a Meredith, and I have very few issues with my name. It’s never been particularly popular, but it’s not weird or totally off people’s radars, and I like that I have hardly ever known another Meredith and never had another one in my class or workplace.
When I was a kid, I wished I could find more stuff with my name printed on it, but now with the Internet you can get any name on any item, so that’s never again going to be a problem.
It does present a challenge for a lot of people to spell, so many times I end up with “Merideth” or “Merridith” but that’s not a huge problem. I do sometimes have to repeat it if I’m introducing myself or opening a phone call (“Sorry, was it Melissa? Marilyn? Could you spell that?”), and I find that it’s a name that may be hard for people to remember if we’ve only met a time or two before (“I’m forgetting your name — Melissa? Marilyn? Is that right?”) (possibly, I am just not that memorable and it’s not the name’s fault).
I never craved a nickname, but a few people in my life have called me Mer, and that’s fine with me.
When I was younger, it bugged me that my name had a weird meaning (usually “keeper of the sea” or something of that ilk), but it wasn’t like it came up on a daily basis. I have since gotten over that.
I definitely recommend Meredith as a name!
Haha, I love that you get Marilyn sometimes, because Meredith is probably my most common mistaken name. My principal in high school regularly called me Meredith.
My name is Jennie.
Born 1980 in England.
The problem started when I switched from primary school to secondary school at age 11. The new school automatically assumed that Jennie must be short for Jennifer, so they added my name to all the registers (roll call lists) as Jennifer. So in each class when they called out my name, I was like “Here, but I was christened Jennie, not Jennifer.” It probably would have been better to sort it out after each class, because it was embarrassing to explain it in front of the whole class. (Though not as bad as the kid who went by her middle name, but was being called by her first name.) Doctors offices also like to lengthen my name to Jennifer and put that in their records instead.
Because I have a non-traditional spelling, people automatically assume that it’s “Jenny” instead of “Jennie”. If it’s something like giving my name at McDonalds for order pick up, I just let it go. Otherwise I do have to spell out my name, if I want it spelled correctly. It’s also interesting to see who still addresses a Christmas card to “Jenny” rather than “Jennie”.
Growing up, there were a couple of other Jennifers / Jennys, but not so many that it bothered me. Now I live in the US and I’m a Mom, I meet a lot more Jennys/Jennifers/Jennis. At the chiropractor the receptionist is called Jenny and she introduced me to another patient there at the same time as me called Jenny. Same thing happened after school once, where my friend Jen introduced me to her friend Jenny. So my name feels very common and somewhat boring now – I do have my ‘special spelling’ but when I’m verbally introduced as “Jennie” you don’t get to know that.
No-one has ever really tried to call me Jen. Maybe one friend did when I was 17, but it never stuck. So I’ve never had a nickname. I guess maybe because my name sounds nicknamey to begin with.
Oh and I forgot the part where I moved to the US and people think my name is “Jeannie” – sounds like Genie.
This never happened in the UK ever, but it happened with one friend when I was an exchange student here. Then, even worse, the preacher that married my husband and I (who we hadn’t not met until the wedding ceremony) kept calling me “Genie” through the whole ceremony. That was awkward and weird! There’s another Mom at my kids school that calls me “Genie” now too.
Oh God that totally happened to my cousin at her wedding. Her name is Kerin and the justice of the peace kept calling her Karen where the “a” was very pronounced and kind of nasally.
I also mistakenly thought my best friend’s husband’s name was Erin when she first started dating him. It took me 20 minutes to figure out she was actually saying Aaron. I blame it on her moving to Georgia and and developing a twang (we grew up in New England.)
And I’m just now realizing how close both sets of names are. I swear it wasn’t just me. You could see my whole side of the family cringe at the wedding every time her name was said. I still have issues with hearing Erin for Aaron sometimes. My best friend’s drawl has only gotten worse after 10 years in the South.
I grew up in Texas and pronounce Erin and Aaron exactly the same way. Not with a drawl, but both with an “eh” vowel sound.
My name is Dominique. Although I do love that my name is uncommon (I’ve only ever met 1 other Dominique) I’ve had quite a few issues with it.
1. Gender confusion: I’m often mistaken for a boy. I think this issue irritates me more than it should, probably because I’m usually either talking on the phone or standing right in front of the person at the time, and I’m pretty sure that I don’t look or sound like a man!
2. Mispronounciation: Lots of people call me Dominic(k). I usually have to correct them more than once as for some reason they don’t seem to hear the difference. This stems back to the first issue of me not being a boy :)
3. Spelling: I don’t mind this so much as my maiden name required spelling as well, and it became more of an amusement to see how confused I could get the person on the other end of the phone.
4. Nick names: As a very young child my parents called me Nique, which then became Niquey. This name stuck, so much so that today 99% of people call me this. Niquey opened up a whole nother can of worms regarding spelling and pronunciation but it feels much more like my name than Dominique so I just put up with them. The most obvious nn is Dom, I dislike this a lot (thanks to teasing in school with references to Dom Deluise) and am only called this by my sister thankfully.
I think if I had a choice I wouldn’t choose Dominique for my name, but I’d choose something that would be similar in style and popularity, so would probably still end up with the same issues :)
Hm, I will post as I don’t see my name on the list yet and I think it’s pretty popular.
I have many of the same issues as everyone else with a popular-ish name
1. time stamped: 1980s all the way
2. many different spellings : brittany, brittney, brittini, britney..
3. popularity: ~#3 in 1989, 1990, & 1991 I believe)
4. nicknames: I detest the nn brit and refuse to answer if people insist on trying to call me it
5. Lots of similar – ish names: Brandy, Bridget, Brianna/Brianne…
6. Britney Spears creates an awkward association.. especially since I am nothing like her.
7. My name is so popular, I feel like I don’t really associate it with myself? I don’t know if that’s weird.. but I feel like it is so stereotyped and the stereotype doesn’t fit with “me”
8. Because the spelling of mine is weird, people often think a) I’m of a strange ethnicity b) pronounce it Britini (rhymes with Martini) c) that I’ve made up the spelling just for fun [I posted this else where, but once someone asked to see my birth certificate to prove that this was indeed the legal spelling]
As a 1977 Jennifer, I have the same problem of not associating my name with myself. I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one because I wondered!
1979 Kylee here. Growing up, no one had ever heard of my name, and I was the only one in school. Most teachers thought I was a boy, and routinely called the roll for “Kyle? Is he here today?” Consequently, I have learned to answer to Kyle, Kelly, Kaylee, Keely, Kristy, et al. I had one teacher call me Klee for a whole year, and a foreign professor who couldn’t quite pronounce Kylee who called me Kaylee. I hated my name growing up, because people thought I was a boy.
Now, people think I am under ten years old. My name is definitely generation stamped, but for a later generation! I’m on the old side for a Kylee. That’s what happens when your mom finds a really “beautiful and unusual name” that then takes off like wildfire!
I still don’t like my name. Now, I don’t like it because the group of names it is associated with are decidedly not my style. I wish my parents had just gone with my family middle name (Eliz@) instead. Much more classic. I’ve been tempted to change it many times, but unfortunately, didn’t think of it just before I moved to a new state, so now everyone here knows me by Kylee, as well. I try to go by Ky as much as possible, because I like it much better, but it is so nickname-ish that it’s mostly just friends and family that call me that.
Oh, well. Maybe I will get up the stones to change it to Eliz@ and to heck with anyone thinking I am weird!
So funny how different naming trends can be in different countries. In Australia Kylie is totally date stamped to the 70s and 80s. Throughout the 70s it was a top ten name and was the number one name of 73. In the 80s it’s popularity remained in the top 10 or top 20 until pop singer Kylie Minouge hit the scene in about 1987 and then the name drops out of the top 100. Kylie Minogue is so famous here in Australia that no last name is needed she is just Kylie or affectionately “our Kylie” so it would be extremely rare for a baby to be named Kylie/Kylee today as it is so date stamped and is so connected to Kylie the pop singer. Kylie is also a very Australian name as aparently its an Australian Aboriginal word meaning Boomerang.
I remember when Kylie Minogue hit big over here– I was around 8 or so?– and I was like, “OMG SOMEONE ELSE HAS MY NAME!!!” The Baby Name Wizard says this: This was an Australian name, but it fit perfectly into American tastes. So when American parents encountered the name via Aussie entertainer Kylie Minogue, they jumped on it.
It’s so funny to me that it was so, SO popular in Australia– like Jennifer– and that it’s totally a mom name now because that is emphatically NOT the case here in the States! It is definitely a younger name. I get compliments on it all the time. People of all ages seem to really like it and look at me like I have two heads when I am like, “Meh, not my thing. Don’t really care for it.”
If I could have any name, it would be Louise or Frances.
My name is Erin and I was born in the mid 70s.
I have always liked my name. It’s not super common, but not uncommon. Growing up there were rarely ever any other Erins in my grade.
I have reddish hair and somewhat of an Irish background, so I always liked honoring my heritage and the “Erin Go Bragh!” that I often get.
When I was younger I wished that my name leant itself to a nickname, but now that I’m older I appreciate just having one solid name.
My one major pet peeve is that my name is frequently splled Aaron. This drives me crazy as this is an exclusively male spelling. Therefore, I always spell my name out. Thankfully, it’s pretty short.
I do occassionally have people mispronounce my name as “Erwin”, and traveling to Italy most people could not pronounce my name.
My mom is named Constance and has always hated it – she goes by Connie to everyone. So, when I was born she decided not to give me a formal name, but just to name me Becky. This way, she thought, I would be spared the constant explaining that although I was Rebecca, I wanted to be called Becky. Yeah, that actually didn’t save me much explaining. Instead I have had to explain to everyone that I am not Rebecca but am just Becky. Sometimes I wish that I did have a formal name to fall back on, but not enough that I would have it legally changed or anything.
Another issue in my family is that my sister, named Jill, named her son Jack. Strangely enough, in 13 years, no one has ever brought up the Jack and Jill rhyme, asked them if they are going up the hill, etc. We always say Jill and Jack, in that order, and it has been a complete non-issue.
My name is Jacqueline and I was born in the late 70’s.
1. Non-issue: I have no idea how to pronounce it the way my parents intended. Did they want it pronounced the French way? How did they intend the “line” part to be heard? Leen, Lynn? I could ask them but again, this doesn’t ever come up so I haven’t bothered. I pronounce it Ja que lynn.
2. Non-issue: Nicknames and short forms. I go by Jackie but have been given many nicknames and shortened forms throughout life. I liked that Jack lent itself to many possibilities and I always had the most nicknames of all my friends.
3. Issue: The spelling of Jackie. I wish now that I would have chosen Jacquie as this seems closer to my actual name. Unfortunately, this was done when I entered kindergarten so I had no say in the matter.
4. Non-Issue: Not knowing as a child that Jackie wasn’t my official name and using this on official documents. I have important documents filled out with Jackie instead of Jacqueline. I guess my mom never double checked.
5. Non-issue: My name being misheard as Becky. I actually don’t love saying the name Jackie. I think it sounds a bit harsh.
6. Undecided: Last thing will be my married name. I wished to switch to my full name but I don’t like that the “lynn” ending is similar to the “sin” ending in my partner’s last name and once you throw in my middle (ends in an n sound) it all sounds too N-y. And if used Jackie then I will be a famous athlete. So I am not sure. I am still considering trying for Jacquie.
My name is Claire, and I have always loved it and only known a few others. My one and only whine EVER about my name is that there is no natural nickname, and when you’re 12 and all you want in the world is a cute, quirky nickname, well, you whine about this a lot. But I got over it pretty quickly. I did (*do* sometimes still) get called Claire Bear for an INORDINATE amount of time. These days, only my closest friends can get away with it. Everyone else gets the death glare. Oddly enough, even though it’s completely recognizable, my name gets misheard ALL. THE. TIME. Especially over the phone. 9 out of 10 times I place an order over the phone, they write my name down as Chris. I have no idea why. NO. IDEA. I also get Carrie and Carla and Carly quite a bit. I’ve always been a bit baffled by this phenomenon, but reading everyone else’s comments about their names being misheard just reinforces the fact that I think people don’t listen closely enough to other people in conversation. So.
Jessica, born in 1981. There have been potential issues with my name, but nothing major.
1. Popularity. Occasionally there was another Jessica in a class or workplace, but not so many that it was irritating.
2. Nicknames. Only my parents call me Jessie (and not all the time), so that nickname is special to me. Other family, friends, and coworkers tend to call me Jess. This doesn’t bother me at all. The only time it’s a little weird is when someone I hardly know immediately calls me Jess instead of Jessica.
3. Time stamp. I’m sure my name does and will date me. Like you, Swistle, I’m glad I’m not confused for a young child or older person.
4. Confusion with other names. This is the only one that does bug me. I get A LOT of people who call me Jennifer instead. I have nothing against that name, but it’s not my name!
I am a Christina born in 1970. I was named after my great grandmother, Christina Ann. As a kid, I always thought my name was too boring and Christina is too formal for my liking. I was always Chrissy until about age 7 or 8, Christy for a few years after that, and then I settled into Chris and never looked back. My sister is Melissa and I always thought she got the prettier name. We hated our matchy-matchy childhood nicknames (Chrissy and Missy) and both of us ditched them by age 10. Only our cousins/extended family used them longer.
Even though I thought Christina was too formal, I still dislike being called Christine. I also did not like that most of the Chris’ of my generation were male.
As an adult, I am fine with my name. I still think it is a little boring, but I like that it honors my great grandmother, who I never met. I even honored my on grandmother by naming my daughter a variant of her name, Mary.
My name is RuthAnn, whose issues I feel are legion.
First, the reasoning: my parents wanted an R name because my mom, sister, and my dad’s sister all have R names. They liked Ruth, but Ruth sounded really choppy with my 1-syllable, Asian last name. So, I ended up as RuthAnn Elizabeth. It’s a lot of name.
Now, my issues:
1. People can not handle a double name, in my experience. I can not go through an introduction without explaining my name: “My name is RuthAnn, yes, I go by RuthAnn, not Ruth, yes, I have a middle name, it’s Elizabeth.”
2. People can’t spell my name, not that I can blame them. I live for the name tag because it clears up so much confusion. When I spell my name, I do it in one breath like this, “one word, R-u-t-h-no-space-capital-A-n-n-no-E.” I feel like my name is super high-maintenance.
3. CAPITAL LETTER IN THE MIDDLE, OMG. Such a hassle. When we refinanced, I was signing my name correctly as RuthAnn Lastname, and the notary was like, “Hmm, I don’t know if that’s going to work.” Oh, because the capital letter triggered a space in the data entry, so I was listed as Ruth Ann in some places and Ruthann in others. I had to re-sign ALL of the paperwork as Ruth Ann and Ruthann, BOTH of which were wrong. Every time, I had to think very hard about it.
4. People mishear it all the time. Names I have been called: Roseanne, Suzanne, BRUCE FTLOG. Even when I say, “Ruth…Ann,” people jump to their conclusions by the time I get to the A, and all is lost.
I’ve become resigned to my name, but I doubt I will ever LIKE it. It’s okay with me. My parents meant well, and once people learn my name, it’s all right. It’s getting over the hump of introducing myself that is fraught with peril. Having this name has made me very, very sensitive to spelling/pronouncing people’s names right. In a more indignant mood, I have equated getting someone’s name right as “the very tip of the iceberg of respect!”
Your post should be required reading for all parents-to-be who are advocating for hyphenated first names or calling kids by both first and middle……As if that’s going to be doable long term.
My mom is a MaryLynn … and I’ve heard her complain about all these same issues all her life. She’s usually called “Marilyn”, because no one seems to figure out you just say Mary and Lynn, two totally common names. She used to purposely hyphenated in high school because she couldn’t stand it. Her old skate still have Mary-Lynn written inside (so funny she still has those skates, actually, haha).
She named me Stephanie, and while it wasn’t *popular* yet but was about to be… she always, always LOVED that everyone could pronounce and spell my name correctly, after her own suffering, haha. I’ll never name my kid a double-barrelled first name after my mom’s stories.
I sympathize for you, RuthAnn, even my tablet right now keeps trying to autocorrect your name to Ruthann. :-(
Great topic! I am a mid-seventies Carol.
1. Wrong Generation: Not really an issue at all. When I was a kid, it sometimes confused people like the dentist’s office when they called to confirm my appointment. It was a much more common name in my Baby Boomer parents’ cohort. I suspect now occasionally people expect me to be older than I am before they meet me, but it’s not ever commented on.
Weirdly, although I should have gone through life never meeting another Carol my age, there was one in my class all through grade school and middle school. She even had the same last initial. This kind of irritated me. Irrationally, I felt like it was my name first because I was six months older. It’s something I got (mostly) over, though, and we were friends. It’s just one of those things you can’t predict. As a result, I wrote my full name, including middle, on everything in an effort to make sure we were not confused on paper, and I pretty much have done that my whole life since. I’m sure it contributes to my own namenerdness now. I bet her presence also made the name feel less outdated to me and my peers.
I wouldn’t hesitate to name my own daughter Alison or Amanda or something else slightly “wrong” for her age. We ended up going with a name that’s going to place her in her generation (Lucy), which does bother me a little. But only a little.
2. No Nicknames: Mixed blessing. As a kid it bothered me. My brothers had long names with nice short nicknames. I wanted the same. I thought I would name my daughters things like Katherine and Elizabeth–names with options! However, as an adult, I read comments like the ones above about people automatically shortening Nicole to Nicki, etc., and I am so thankful that, as a shy kid and reserved adult, I didn’t and don’t have to constantly correct or curtail that.
3. Associations: Almost 100% positive. Yes, when I was seven or eight, other kids would call me or refer to Carol Burnett, and it bothered me because we didn’t really watch television at my house and I didn’t know who they were talking about or what she had to do with me. And in December, I hear my name everywhere. But the meaning of “carol” (I like “song of joy” so much better than the supposed “girl form of Charles”) is a giant plus, and it’s not something that confuses me or is remarked upon.
4. Name Confusion: Only a mild issue. No, it’s not short for Caroline or Carolyn. (It seems like people used to ask that more than they do now.) Again, when I was younger, I might have preferred Caroline (because options), but I am happy to have avoided the spelling and pronunciation issues of it. It’s never confused with the male/last name Carroll.
5. Spelling/Pronunciation: Non-issue. Yes, there are Caroles out there, but Carol is much more the default for people. No pronunciation issues. The barista might occasionally add an extra R or L or write “Cara,” but that’s not any kind of problem.
Overall, I like my name a whole lot. It’s easy to spell, easy to say, and obviously female. It’s well-known but not particularly popular/common. I like the sound and the meaning. I recommend it if you’re looking for a “wrong generation” name or want to be ahead of its 2040 resurgence.
I’ve always liked my name. I like that it’s not very common. In first grade, there was another Brenna in my class, but other than that I’ve only met a handful of Brennas over the years.
The only annoyance I have with it is that I am often called by similar, more familiar names like Brianna, Brenda, Brianne, or even Jenna.
When my parents were choosing my name, my dad worried that I would be mistaken for a boy, considering the popularity of Brendan and Brennan. But, I’ve never run across that problem.
I’m a 1980’s Jessica and have never minded the popularity of my name. I rather like it, actually. It’s instantly recognizable, easy to spell, and not often confused with another name.
I do get some people who lump all popular 70s/80s ‘J’ names together and sometimes call me Jennifer, but that’s a minor inconvenience. Mainly because it doesn’t happen too often. It’s almost always a man who’s a generation or more older than me, too. It seems people of my generation (and their mothers) don’t have any trouble telling the names apart. (Yay!)
My graduating class was 59 people and there was another Jessica with me from kindergarten through graduation. She preferred to go by Jess, though, and I don’t, so it wasn’t a problem. For a couple years there was a third Jessica, which did make things confusing sometimes, but still didn’t bother me. I find it funny when people are aghast at the thought their child may have to go by “Jessica N” because it’s really not that bad.
I also like that since the name is so popular, and was given to so many different people, there isn’t much (if any) of a personality stereotype. I mean, when you hear the name Jessica, do you think anything other than “she’s probably around 30”? It seems like a very neutral name to me, which means I can be anything I want. I like that.
I did have to fight off great-grandparents calling me Jessie, a name I HATE. (It always made me feel like they were calling me a boy’s name – Jesse.) I got used to it, though, and now think of it kind of fondly. Mainly because it didn’t spread:)
My name is Pressley. I’m a late 80s baby.
I’ve had LOTS of issues with my name — which I have always loved. People consistently think I’m a boy. It’s often heard as “Leslie” or “Wesley” or “Preston.” When it is heard correctly, it is almost always spelled Presley.
And, of course, I get the Elvis question all the time. That’s the only part of my name that used to bother me, because my parents didn’t name me for Elvis; they just liked the name. (It has two S’s for a reason!) I’ve gotten over that as I’ve gotten older. I’m a newspaper reporter, so I tell people my name about 40 times a day. It’s much easier to say “Pressley, like Elvis, with two S’s.” People just understand me quicker — and sometimes it means people will tell me stories about their days as an Elvis groupie. (True story.)
The only other thing that makes me a bit sad about my name is its recent somewhat popularity. I’ve always loved being (in my mind) the only Pressley.
Swistle, I think I’m about a generation younger than you (born in the late 1980s) but all of your points are ones I’ve felt regarding my own name. I’d add into the mix that the stigma of my name being “made up” is also bothersome. In reality, my mother meant it to be a nickname for Michaela (after my father) and intended for that to be my full name.
My biggest peeve with my name is that she didn’t go through with her original impulse to put Michaela on the birth certificate. It took her a week or two to get the birth certificate filled out, and by then no one was calling me Michaela– just Kaela. So she thought, “Oh, I’ll make everything simpler and just put that down.” This is why I nearly always recommend that people put the formal version of a name down as the official one even if they think they’ll never call the baby anything but the nickname. Hattie might someday want to be Harriet, or Elsie Elsa, or Josie Josephine. This Kaela often wishes she could go by Michaela!
My other pet peeve is that my name is eminently datable to a post-1980s period. Again, Michaela would have significantly taken the bite out of that problem because it has been in use much longer. At least I was born a little ahead of the Kayla/Kylie/Kaylie curve. There were no other girls with my name or any similar name from the grouping in my years of elementary and middle school. (But there were dozens of Ashleys, Lindsays, Jessicas, Katies, and Emilys).
So, to sum up, a list of problems I find with my name, in order of importance– though all the issues kind of tie together:
1. Nickname quality, lack of wider options
2. Trendiness, lack of history
3. A definite time stamp that will only become more apparent as I get older
4. The weird spelling my mother chose is last in terms of issues for me, because with the internet and Facebook and such these days, people see your name typed out all the time. I rarely have people misspell it. When they do, they seem to do it over and over again, and I really think those people just have some kind of dyslexia. I don’t get upset about it. Also I’ve lived in a part of Europe where Kaela is unheard of, but Michaela is common and commonly spelled Mikaela. So in a lucky break, the spelling makes intuitive sense to a lot of people I know.
I think all these factors contribute to my taste in names for a future child, which is a preference for uncommon or unusual yet established names with standard spellings.
Reading over some of the other responses, I’m reminded that the #1 name mine is mistaken for is Katelyn/Caitlin/Kaitlyn. It happened recently at a coffeeshop when the barista wrote “KATELYN” instead of Kaela on the cup that was supposed to be mine, and a woman who must have actually been a Katelyn took it. I think this is because around the time I was born, Kayla/Kaylie had yet to gain full momentum, and Katelyn is more expected on someone my age.
My other theory is that oftentimes people consider Kayla a “Black” name, and I’m white, so they assume it must be Katelyn (one of the “whitest” names around, according to the Freakonomics people). Kayla was still in the top 10 as of 2012 for African American baby girls in NYC, where I live.
Let’s call it half a generation: I was born in the ’70s, and my kids are half a generation younger than you. No need to age a girl before her time.
Aw, sorry, Swistle! I didn’t mean it that way– I guess I consider a difference of around 8-10 years a generation. I have some cousins born in the late 1990s who are now teenagers (!) (I used to BABYSIT them and now they DRIVE). They do not remember a time before the Internet. I also feel like generational divides are speeding up these days with so much fast pop culture turnover…I feel like I likely have more in common culturally with you than them. Anyway, please don’t be offended!
My name is Heidi and I was born in the early 80s.
Popularity. I’ve always liked that my name is known, but not super common. It was in the top 100 when I was born, but toward the bottom of the list. I haven’t meant very many other people with my name. I suppose it’s somewhat dated (though I occasionally see it show up on people’s baby name lists online), but that’s never bothered me.
Spelling and Pronunciation. It is very hard for people to spell. I almost always have to spell out my name – h-E-i-d-i – as the E in particular seems get lost otherwise. However, it’s very easy to pronounce and people almost never confuse it with another name. I think I’ve been called Holly once or twice. I have much younger siblings and my name was always the easiest for them to pronounce when they were learning to talk, which was nice.
Perceptions. I would occasionally get told that I “don’t look like a Heidi,” which I found odd. I guess common perception is that Heidi’s are supposed to be blonde. Probably the fault of Heidi movies, though the Heidi in the Johanna Spyri book is described as dark haired.
Name Sharing My mom found out shortly before I was born that a cousin of hers had named her new daughter Heidi. They named me Heidi anyway. I met my second cousin, Heidi, once when we were kids. We both thought it was fun that was shared a name. It’s never been an issue.
Nicknames. I’ve never had a nickname. This has never bothered me. Heidi itself was originally a nickname though not many people realize that. However, it still has that nickname feel similar to Cathy, Nikki, Sadie, etc. I’ve never had a problem with someone not taking me seriously despite not having a longer, more serious form of my name.
Name Jokes. We moved to Texas when I was young and found out that while Texans (at least in our area) didn’t say Howdy, they did say Hi-dy, exactly rhyming with my name. I got “Hi-dy Heidi” a lot. Each person seemed to think they were the first person to think of it and that it was so funny. It got tiresome very quickly. I don’t live in Texas anymore and this is no longer an issue. I would occasionally get “Heidi is Hiding” within my family whenever I’d hole up in my room. This never bothered me.
When I was little I wanted to be Heidi probably because it is my cousins name and the Heidi movies. I still love the name today and would use it for a girl except it is my cousins name.
I’ll add one more issue. Apparently in nearly all the languages of the Indian subcontinent (languages used by at least 1.7 billion humans on Earth), my name is identical in sound to the word used for “banana”. I’ve had many an Indian tell me this, some gingerly (though with a smile) and only after knowing me awhile. I mean, it’s not so bad of course, it’s sort of goofy, (though there’s also sexual connotation to it apparently in some languages), but maybe if you live in a community that has many people of another ethnicity besides your own in it, you should ask a favor of someone from that group and run potential names by them to check for potential conflicts. I guess the major one would be Spanish in most parts of the United States.
Maybe this advice is going too far… but it is something to consider!
1) The spelling- I’ve spent my whole life saying “Allyson with two Ls and a Y.” And most the time there’s a lot of pause, so I end up spelling it out. It is spelled that way after my mom’s friend who is named after June Allyson (a family friend of my mom’s friend). I would like my name more if it had been spelled Allison…it would have just been easier. Having said that, the name I have picked for a future daughter is one that has many spellings. I am picking the one that is the most common. Another name that my husband and I both like had to be pulled from the table- I wanted the most common spelling, he wanted another. I refuse.
2) The nickname- Ally. I hate it. HATE. To me, it’s a completely different name. So someone who calls me Ally might as well call me Beth. Al is more of a nickname, to me, and I don’t mind it when people say that.
3) Popularity- It was somewhat popular when I was born (1980) but not overly so. Not an issue. But popular names don’t bother me…I figure a name is popular because it’s a good name.
I’m a 1984 Olivia and I was the only Olivia I knew growing up.
Issues when I was a kid:
#1. Lots of nickname potential – Liver, Liver and Onions, Olive Oil, I heard them all and they were often said with a negative connotation since I was a string bean. However, my Mom was a big stickler for only using Olivia and not “Livy, or Liv.” So when all my friends got to be “Jenny” or something along those lines, I had to be formal Olivia.
#2. I didn’t like having a unique name. When I would go to camps or something I would often lie and say may name was Hillary. Oh how I longed to be a Hillary or a Kelly or a Tiffany.
The upside was that when I told me name to an adult they always told me they loved it and it was a beautiful name.
Nonissues as an adult:
#1. People always feel the need to tell me that their kid/niece/granddaughter is named Olivia. But I find that as a non issue because I like the pleasant surprise people experience get when they meet an adult Olivia.
#2. The nickname “Liv” happened organically as I got older and I love it. I don’t introduce myself as Liv, but once I become familiar with someone, they just naturally slip into calling me Liv.
I’m a ’89 Megan – that name was pretty popular back in the 80s / early 90s (although my parents thought they were being unique…learned their mistake when we showed up at school and I had 2 others in my class).
I like my name just fine (although being a name-nerd, I would have chosen something a bit more daring) and the meaning, “Pearl”, is sweet.
Spellings/Pronunciations: Other spellings like Meagen, Meagan, Megyn, Meghan, Meghann, etc. MEEgan and MAYgan are not my fave pronunciations. Sometimes I get called Morgan.
Nicknames: Megs, Meg, Meggers, Meggie, Megatron, Maggot, Megara, Megaroni, Mega-Rooney (like Mickey Rooney) etc.
Nothing too terrible :) I’m just thankful that I didn’t have my married/last name when I was growing up… it rhymes with “Farty” (my poor husband).
I’m Brooke. Born in the mid-80s.
I LOVE my name. and have most of my life. The only times I didn’t love it was when I was standing in a store looking at personalized items, and Brooke was never one of them. But I never really wished to be named anything else. I think my name fits me perfectly.
My one complaint is that a large part of the population insist on spelling it without the e. And of the remaining part, most will ask “with an e?” I have never known anyone named “Brook” so this really annoys and baffles me. It’s like asking “Mike with an e?” or something.
I’m a Paige, never known a Page, but people always ask me “With an I?” YES OF COURSE!!
My name is uncommon, which I like. I always *thought* I disliked it as a kid, until I was classmates with another Annika in a tiny middle school, and found myself irritated that I wasn’t the only one.
The primary issue with my name is pronunciation. I get ANN-ika and On-EEKA a lot. It’s ON-ika. Like Monica with no M. I have even had people pronounce it correctly UNTIL THEY LEARN THE SPELLING, and then SWITCH TO AN INCORRECT PRONUNCIATION. Obviously this pisses me off.
I wish there were a natural nickname. I think Nikki would work, but it wouldn’t suit me at all so I never tried. Annie doesn’t work unless you pronounce the full name ANN-ika. Likewise Anna. BUT Ani (ON-ee) or Anna (ON-na) work. Unfortunately, I have never been able to get anyone to call me either for very long. (Oddly, I did manage to get people to call me Bettie for over a decade.)
It rhymes with Chanukah. This did not escape the notice of every kid I ever went to school with. (It also rhymes with harmonica.) Now, I don’t think tease factor alone is reason to avoid a name–kids will FIND something to tease other kids about. But it was annoying.
I use another name (Anna, pronounced ANN-a) at Starbucks. I like doing this, because I get to be someone else. However, they STILL SPELL IT WRONG. I did not anticipate that.
Also worth noting: people think my name is pretty, almost universally. I see it come up a lot these days as a potential baby name, but even 20 years ago when it wasn’t in the top 1000 people would comment that they were saving it for future daughters.
Oh, I should say that I was born in 1978.
I have a daughter named Annika (born 2009, pronounced ANNika). You are right about people’s responses: people very frequently comment that it is a pretty name (obviously those who don’t like it are too polite to say so!).
LOVE this thread!
Era I’m certainly in the “wrong” generation, as almost every other Marilyn I’ve ever met was in my mother’s (or grandmother’s) generation. Makes some sense, as my mom named me after a great friend of hers at the time she was pregnant. She also likes history enough to have a few books around about Marilyn Monroe, but I get a little persnickety when people assume I’m named after her. My response in teen and twenty-something years was, “Yes, like Monroe, or Manson.”
Spelling I do have to emphasize my spelling, but I absolutely get what you’re saying about an allegiance with your own spelling and an appreciation when people realize it is the “right” way!
Nicknames Don’t love the lack of nicknames, and the default one of “Mare,” but a friend gave me the nn “Merle” a few years ago and it’s grown on me a ton, such that my husband and his family use it a lot too.
Popularity I remember feeling so sad for my little brother with the uncommon (family name) of Slade, that he didn’t ever find keychains, magnets, etc. with his name on them in gas stations and rest stops. Nowadays, I think his name is great, and so many personalized items are customizable that this probably isn’t a consideration I’d actually use, even though I thought for sure I would when I was younger.
Tried to mimic Heidi J’s sweet italics, but missed a closing tag, sorry! Feel free, if you have the ability to fix, Swistle. :)
Fixed it! (I AM MAGIC)
Completely time stamped. Melissa. Born in 1980 when it was in the top 5. In fact I’ve never met any much older or younger than me. It has pluses and minuses, this common of a name. My last name is SUPER common and easy as well. Basically there is another me, almost everywhere. I’ve gotten wrong plane tickets, wrong prescriptions, had creditors call the wrong me. On the other side, you can’t Google me. I like and appreciate that. I can ALWAYS find my name on all the things. If you ask my dad, I have my own song. Heh.
I gave both of my girls names that were at the time of their births, over 50 on the list, while still being pretty normal names. My son….well his name is top ten, however I tend to like classic names on boys and really, my ex-husband won that round. I just figured it’s easier to have a name that is more common that everyone can spell and pronounce.
I’m Kathryn, nicknamed Katy, born in late 1970s. Generally, I have few complaints, but I don’t LOVE my name by any stretch. I have always worried that Katy felt too “little girl” and have tried going by Kathryn a couple of times (the earliest time being when I started Kindergarten, that’s how concerned that it was a baby name), but it never sticks. Several people have called me Kate but I never embraced it as my name, and my husband hates it. I guess by this age, I’m stuck being Katy for life :)
Spelling is also a issue, especially when I was younger. I get Katie if people hear the name and don’t see it written, or I get Kathy if someone reads it before hearing it. This was a particularly sore point growing up as my mom’s name is Kathy. These days people seem more attentive to name spellings in general and it’s not as big of a deal. Katy Perry probably helped “normalize” that spelling.
Popularity hasn’t bothered me; in fact, I usually like sharing names with classmates and friends. There are always other Katies around but not so many that that I feel lost.
I totally agree about being a Katie for life. Going my my legal name has never stuck. I think this is super important for parents to remember. Just because a kid “can” revert to a legal name doesn’t mean it will work in real life. That said, I really like being a Katie (or Kathleen if you’re the government).
Oh I never said why I like it. Basically I like how people are familiar with the spelling and pronunciation of Katie however, it’s not overly common. I also do like having a formal legal name to whip out at the right moment.
It would also probably help to say that I was born in the early 1990’s in North America. And as a side note: there are a surprising number of Kathleen’s from that era hiding as Katie’s. It’s like a secret club.
My name is Ruby and I was born in 1995.
1) It’s more popular now than it was when I was born (jumping from #260 then to #106 in 2012) so most of the people I share a name with are a lot younger than me. In all of my classes in school I’ve always been the only Ruby. But at the summer camp for elementary schoolers I worked at, I was one of four. It was also in the Top 100 from 1888-1945, peaking at #22 in 1911. This has never been an issue–I guess it’s possible that people could think I’m younger or a LOT older than I am when they hear my name for the first time, but I don’t think that’s ever really happened.
2) It rhymes with booby. That…made for some unfortunate nicknames in elementary and middle school.
3) My middle name is Rose, so the two noun names together sound sort of flowery and girly. I actually really like this, and people always ask what the story is behind my name. (For the record, there isn’t one. My parents just liked it.) I can see why someone might not like having that name, though.
4) It lends itself to nicknames. I get called “Rubes” a lot, but I’m talking more about the pop-culture-related nicknames…Ruby Tuesday, Ruby-us Hagrid, RubyRubyRubyRUBY (sung to the tune of the Kaiser Chiefs song), etc. There are a LOT of songs with my name in them. This isn’t really a good thing or a bad thing…I get a little tired of people thinking they’re being original when they call me “Ruby Tuesday,” but it’s fun to see what new ones people come up with.
5) People associate my name with the color red. Again, I wouldn’t say that this is necessarily good or bad, though it does get a little tiring to hear people say, “Hey, you’re Ruby-colored!” every time I wear something red. I’ve dyed my hair red a few times and I’ve had to explain to people that it’s not just because of my name. People also assume that red is my favorite color when it isn’t.
6) I’m a theatre major, and I’ve been told my name makes a great stage name.
Overall, I really like my name. It’s a name with a lot of personality, and sometimes I wonder if I’d feel the same way about it if I didn’t have a personality that matched it. Right now, though, I’m glad it’s my name.
I know an 8 year old Ruby Rose, so this was fun to read. :)
Yeah, Rose is a very common middle name with the name Ruby. (Though oddly enough I don’t think any of the other Rubys I personally know have that middle name!)
Another thing: Growing up it was IMPOSSIBLE to find personalized things with my name on them. Ironically, I actually ended up with a small collection of personalized items because finding something with my name on it was so rare that whenever I or one of my family members would find one we’d always buy it! I was probably 16 or 17 the first time I found one of those mini license plates with my name on it (I’m 19 now). Recently, though–and I’m talking within the past few months–I’ve been seeing my name on things everywhere. That’s one drawback of having a name that’s just a generation or so ahead of its time: If I were still at the age where having my name on everything was cool, I would have been so much happier to finally start seeing things with my name!
My name is Melanie but I a lot of people call me Mel for shirt. These are some of my issues:
1. I never have to use my last initial since I’m the only one in my grade(born in 1996), but I often feel left out when my twin sister can get personalized thing(as stated above, her name is Michelle) and I can’t.
2.There is so many different spellings that no one can ever spell it right like Melony, Melany, and other variations. Even when I say it people automatically think I say:Molly. Which is ironically my cousin’s name.
Other than that there has been never been a really big issue.
Julia born in ’83. I love my name. Love love love.
Nickname never stuck with anyone other than my extended family, who still call me Julie. I was a senior in high school before I met another one (although I later found out a Jamie I knew at the same time was in fact a Julia). As an adult, I haven’t encountered another one that isn’t under 5 years old. :-)
I disliked the nickname Julia Gulia before The Wedding Singer and I hated it after it.
Oh and I got questions about The Beatles song of the same name when I was young. Hadn’t heard of it then.
I feel like my name issues are not big deals, but they annoy me. And I worry about my kids being annoyed with it later.
Issues with my name:
Spelling. My dad didn’t want me to be Brit-a-ney, so they spelled it Brittney. And nobody ever gets it right. Even though I spell it, say it, spell it again for every form. Because of that I am totally against kre8yve spellings, all my kids have traditionally spelled names.
Popularity. Born in ’82, I grew with dozens of Brittany/Brittney/Brytni/Britany/Brittaney/Brittani/ Brytanie’s at school. In one class there were SEVEN of us.
Nicknames. I HATE Britt. Which is really the only nn there is. Obviously a personal issue and not a deal breaker because you can’t predict your child’s preference, but I still hate it.
Celebrity association. Again, this couldn’t have been predicted. But my maiden name was Brittney S_____ When I got married, and was kneeling at the alter for the actually ceremony, the man marrying us called me Britney Spears when he called me by name. Awkward.
Your perspective (as usual) was so interesting.
I am a Maryanne, born in 1977. So, I was definitely time stamped to the wrong generation. I can’t tell you how many times a peer would say, “Maryanne, my mom’s name is Maryanne.” As a kid, I hated it because it sounded like an old lady/ nun name (especially combined with my middle name- yes I have a double name + a middle name), I didn’t have a natural nickname like my siblings (think Thomas, Elizabeth and Michael like names), and there are 6 different ways to spell it. I would get lumped with the MaryBeths, MaryJanes, etc or called those names. I have a serious personality and I’ve wondered if my name fit my personality or if my personality fit my name.
Now, as an adult, I love being a Maryanne. I like having a name that is different but still mainstream. I only dislike the spelling part and that is because my married name, tho short, needs be spelled and confirmed each time. My children, as a result, have names that are only spelled one way.
My name is Dani. Just Dani. Not Danielle or Danica or Danna. Just Dani. My issues with my name could go on and on, but I’ll stick to just the main ones!
1. “So, what’s Dani short for?” is a question I’ve gotten easily a million times in my life. I was born in the late 80’s so both Danielle for a girl and Daniel for a boy were pretty popular. As such, everyone always assumed I was one of the Danielles.
2. “Your parents wanted a boy, didn’t they?” Nope. If I was a boy I would’ve been named an entirely different name. This issue did lead to most of my family members calling me by my first and middle name (Elizabeth) when I was really young–mainly so no one thought I was a boy. Some of them still call me exclusively by my 6 syllable full name.
3. “How do you pronounce your name?” I wear a name tag at work and I have at least one customer a day asking how to pronounce it. They all seem to think it should have a more exotic pronunciation.
4. The spelling Danni. I have an aunt who still spells it Danni almost every time she writes my name. I also get Danny and Dany. Going to Starbucks and giving my name is always an experience.
5. Not as big of an issue but it does rhyme with fanny. That was fun as a child (note the sarcasm.)
All in all, I don’t mind my name quite as much now as I did when I was younger. I get more compliments on it than I would ever expect to. Plus with the trend of boyish nicknames on girls getting bigger, I feel that it’s only a matter of time until there are lots of little Dani’s running around!
I can’t believe I’m the first Sarah to comment! I was born in 1991, and I love my name.
There have always been several other Sarahs in my classes, preschool through college, so for a long time I was Sarah C., even when the other Sarah in my high school class went for the most part by a nickname involving her last name.
I always specify that I’m “Sarah with an H” whenever I’m telling someone my name for a document or anything like that, and secretly get offended when it’s spelled “Sara.” I have nothing against the other spelling, but as many of the “Rebecca not Becky”s have said, it’s a fine name, it’s just not me (the H makes a big difference!!).
There aren’t any common nicknames for Sarah these days, though Sally and Sadie traditionally are. My aunt’s name is Sally, not short for Sarah, so that was never an option, though my late Nana and my mom often call me “Sal” accidentally. I’ve had friends call me “Sars,” which was annoying in the early 2000s, but less of a big deal now.
I often have people misunderstand my name as “Sierra” or “Tara” or even “Dara/h/Daire” because I pronounce the first A a little longer than the typical pronunciation. I’m not really sure why I do that; my parents never did, but I like the approximate sound of “Sayrah” better than “Sahhhrah” in my own voice. Pretty much everyone in my life pronounces the first A like the A in “apple”.
I love my name because it’s a really classic name, and works well with my middle and surname, which are, respectively, an a-typical spelling of a slightly less common Irish surname, and a very common English surname. I am not within the first few pages of results for a Google search with my first and last name or even my full name, which I greatly appreciate in these days of limited internet anonymity. My name doesn’t seem to date me very much at all; I could be a grandma or a baby with my name, and I encounter Sarahs of all ages at my job in customer service.
My parents were also considering Grace, Rebecca, and Fiona for me, but I’m very pleased and grateful that they went with Sarah. I think it’s the best name I could possibly have and hope I’m able to give my own daughters such perfect names in the future!
I love, love, love this thread. Everyone who commented above, you are my people! I love talking names.
So, here we go: I’m Helena born in 1982.
1. This is the biggie: Pronunciation. I’m ha-LAY-na. Not HELEN-ah (though that is my preferred mispronunciation), or *grits teeth* ha-LEE-na. Oy. This is so constant that I have a personal rule of sorts where I only correct people twice and then just go by whatever they call me. It can get awkward otherwise (“no, ha-LAY-na!”)
2. No real nicknames. Not as big of an issue, but I did try out some things as a kid. I dislike Lainey. My mother tried Lena (LAY-na) when I was little and I wish that had stuck.
3. There was a time in grade school when having Hell (almost) in my name was an issue. However, my last name at the time was Butters, which very much had “Butt” in it and was, thus, hysterical.
Interesting side-note: I have people hear “Colleen” a lot when I introduce myself. That and “Ka-lay-na”… it made me anxious when I was younger that my Hs sounded like Ks.
Thank you for writing this – I love the name Helena (pronounced your way) and it’s so interesting to have an “insider’s” perspective! Helena is beautiful!
Helena (haLAYna) is a beautiful name! I love it. I live in Helena (HELENah) Montana and it amuses me when calling customer service anywhere else in the US and they always call it “HaLEEna Montana”. I grew up in Southern California and I do remember when we learned the state capitals that we pronounced Montana’s capital as HaLEEna. But it is HELENah. And some entrepreneurial soul opened a business here a few years ago called Helena Hand Basket. Cute, huh? (I don’t think they are still in business though.)
Kelsey here from the ’80’s…
1. Simple enough name. Not too weird or made up. No one ever gets it right.
In person:
I get called CHELSEY all the time. Drives me crazy. I was one of the few Kelsey’s born in the era where everyone seemed to be name Chelsey or Chelsea.
“Name please.” “Kelsey” “Ok, Chelsey. Is that an -ey or an -ea at the end”. “No, No, it’s Kelsey. With a K” Story of my life.
Over the phone:
“Kelsey speaking” “Oh, Hi Kathy. How are you today?” I work at the hospital and talk to many people on the phone each day, and I don’t think a single person gets my name right over the phone. I don’t have a speech impediment, so I’m not sure why, but my name sounds like Kathy over the phone.
2. Growing up, I couldn’t find anything with Kelsey on it…. no hairbrushes or mirrors or door tags or anything.
3. Hate the nn Kelly. A few people have tried this, and lost. I put an end to it fairly quickly.
On the plus side…
In the 80s with all the Chelsey’s I was the only Kelsey. I’ve only ever met two before.
My name at least isn’t offensive sounding and doesn’t have any weird or offensive nicknames.
I don’t really care for my name, but it is what it is. I wouldn’t name my kid Kelsey though. Too many beautiful, feminine or spunky names out there.
I’m a late 80’s Kelsey and I agree with everything you’ve said.
People I’ve known for years will still occasionally call me Chelsea.
I worked in customer service for a couple of years and got called Kathy as well. I think it is because the demographic I was talking to was often a few generations older than me so many of them just didn’t even have the name Kelsey on their radar, so I think they just assumed I said Kathy. People that do hear me right comment on how unusual a name it is.
I was a little less luck than you at school. I had at least 5 other Kelsey’s in my graduating class.
I do think Kelsey will be a dated name, but I think it will work in my favor. It got its highest ranking in the mid 90’s and then backed off, so the good news is when I am 50, people might hear my name and think I’m 40 or 45.
I’m a late-70’s Kathleen. I was exclusively Katie growing up, with only nuns calling me by my formal name. As a result, I *hated* my name and even dropped it in my mid-20’s, promoting my middle during a short-lived experiment with marriage. A year without my name made me appreciate it so much more; I was relieved when I got to change all of my names back. I have since adopted it in various facets of my life, and can pretty much pinpoint when/where I met someone by what they call me (Katie/Kate/Kathleen).
I hate the nn Kathy for myself and have to suppress murderous rage when people assume that must be my nickname.
My husband is a same-generation Jamieson, and literally James’ son. He didn’t really like his name growing up and everyone called him Jamie. He has since grown in to it, so much so that everyone but family calls him by his full formal name.
I LOVE my name, Hannah. I was pretty bummed out when it became wildly popular 10-15 years ago, but when I was growing up I was the only one I knew! (Born in the mid-80s) There were 530 kids in my graduating class, and I was the only Hannah. AND the only Hannah in the two grades above and below, so I NEVER went to high school with another Hannah. I loved that. I also love that it is feminine and classic. I love that it is a palindrome. :) And I feel like Hannah can be romantic, spunky, quiet, etc.
The only minor problems:
1. I am frequently misheard as Anna. Like, a lot.
2. While most people spell it correctly, I do get “Hanna” semi-regularly. I’ve even gotten “Hana” a couple times. Still, my last name was misspelled MUCH more often, so that was more annoying. (I think every certificate I’ve ever received has misspelled my last name.)
3. Like I mentioned, since it DID become so popular and common a decade or so ago, I feel like it will now have a dated/trendy feel.
4. The era of Hannah Montana was kind of annoying. I got that a lot for a nickname, as well as the constant Hannah Banana (which I actually found endearing.)
5. The lack of nickname. This actually didn’t bother me, and I LIKED that about the name. But some people really like nicknames! I occasionally would get a Han or Hannie from close friends, but I like that.
Fun topic!!
My name is Ashley. From day one, my parents should have been forewarned of the popularity when the nurse informed them I was the 10th Ashley she had delivered that day. I don’t like my name in the slightest, mainly because of its popularity. And I despise being called Ash. I think of a stinking ash tray every time someone calls me Ash.
Early 80’s Tamara.
The biggest issue is pronunciation. People say Ta-mare-uh mostly- I think because of that show “Sister, Sister.” People also say Ta-mar-uh. My name is pronounced Tam-uh-ruh. I’ve never understood the incorrect pronunciations– isn’t the natural break at the syllable? So wouldn’t you start by saying “Tam”??
I also despise the nickname Tammy. It seems so 1950’s. Plus turn on Jerry Springer and I guarantee some guest is named Tammy.
I really like Tamara– my mom thought it would be obvious to pronounce. I have purposefully named my children straightforward names with no logical nicknames!!
I’m a Fiona from the early 80’s. My mother is from Ireland and wanted me to have an Irish name. Growing up I never, and still never, run into another Fiona in the states and I love this. I’ve always loved having such an uncommon name. In Ireland, completely different story and I run into Fiona’s everywhere (my cousins say it’s an old persons name) when I visit. But anytime I have introduced myself I have received very positive feedback.
Before Fiona Apple or the more famous Shrek, my name was mispronunced or misspelled all the time. I’ve seen my name spelled Fionna, Feona, or Pheona but not as much now. It never bothered me to have to repeat or spell my name. I spent high school hearing Fiona Apple and then in college, “like the Princess.” I hear it far less now as back then. I figure there’s far worse things to be associated with and I like Shrek.
I really never received nicknames and am glad because I’m not really a nickname girl. But I have been called Fi or Ona by a couple of friends.
Overall, I love my name and have never thought about being called anything else. I hope I can do as well for my kids as my parents did.
Funnily my parents went a different route with my sister and gave her a very common American name, Emily. My sister loves her name and loved having friends with her name. Just shows how personalities can react so differently about having an uncommon or common name.
Aha! This is easy.
1) It’s hard to spell. Selah/Cela and once my grandparents (!!) put “Sealah” on a birthday card and my uncle’s new wife just recently put “Selah” on a Christmas card. (My uncle spotted it and corrected by adding a period between the a and the h, and adding an i and exclamation points so the card read “Sela.hi!!”
2) It’s hard to pronounce. Seh-luh, Say-luh, etc
3) People ALWAYS get it wrong the first try. Whether they go for the aforementioned mispronunciations or they call me Celia, Selena, Cecelia, Sheila, Sarah, etc. I’ve had people call me the wrong name for months, even after I correct them.
4) People have (inaccurate) opinions about it, mostly that they think it should have an h on it and that it means “pause, reflect” and is found in Psalms. No. Wrong. False. Good lord. Don’t tell me that your pastor’s daughter just named her baby my name because I’m 100% certain that’s not true and that she actually named the kid “Selah.” Sela and Selah are unrelated.`
5) It’s doesn’t really have an easy nickname. I think my parents did this on purpose. But it’s annoying. It’s a hard name without an easy fix when I’m feeling frustrated.
6) My parents put this name on me knowing full well that our last name is also just as difficult to spell or pronounce.
7) I could never find my name (or anything close) on those dumb personalized pencils and erasers and things.
8) Absolutely everyone makes a comment about it. It’s never just, “Hi, Sela, nice to meet you.” It’s “Oh my god! What a pretty name! What does it mean? Is it that one in the Bible?” etc. It’s gets in the way.
That said, I do love my name, it’s a huge part of my identity, and I plan on naming my future child something just as uncommon (although, I’m shooting for a name that has a nickname)
My name is Melody and I love my name. I feel like it is the perfect balance between not too popular and commonly known.
I occasionally have had mix ups with the name Melanie, but it has never been terribly problematic.
The bigger issue that OTHER people have had are nicknames. I don’t feel like Melody has any good nicknames. I certainly do not like “Mel.” I have run across other people in my life who like to use nicknames, or who found my full name to be too much of a mouthful. They have tended to gravitate toward calling me Mel. Typically, it is easy enough to just say that I am not a nickname person, and they get the hint that I prefer my full name.
Oddly, I have had a few people in my life say that Melody doesn’t suit my personality. I am a bit nerdy and bookish, and I suppose people feel like Melody should be a buxom cheerleader. I have had more than one unrelated persons say that they thought I was more of an Emily.
All in all, I love that I almost never run into another Melody. I don’t know how people with very common names process all the other Sarahs around them! I feel like Melody belongs to me and me alone!
I was born in 1982 and my name is Barbara. I have only ever met two other women my age named Barbara, and both of them were named for family members, as I was. I am named for my mom’s twin.
As a child, I didn’t care for my name at all because it was such a grandma name. I used to pretend it was Crystal (? Really, childhood self?!) as a kid and Monica as a teen. I would have liked the unusualness of my name in high school except there was another girl named Barbara in my grade who was in lots of my same classes. :/
As an adult, I feel mostly neutral about my name. I don’t feel like it really fits me, except for the rather important fact that IT’S MY NAME, so it’s kind of hard to think about being called anything else.
I almost exclusively go by Barb, but don’t like to introduce myself that way. I like to think my name is “Barb, short for Barbara” rather than just “Barb” which seems like a chirpy ’70’s cocktail waitress. I have a few people in my life who call me Barbie and Babs as well, but who are darling people whom I like, so I think of these nicknames fondly in those cases.
My main beef with my name is actually feeling like I don’t have my own name. My Aunt Barbara is in my life almost as much as my mom and has at times in the last 20 years lived with my parents and family. So I didn’t like the feeling of “which Barbara?” My middle name is after my other aunt’s middle name. I would have preferred only one honor name, and in the middle name spot. That is what I’ve strived for in my own kids’ names- giving them an honor middle name but their own first name.
Also, Barbara is derived from the word “barbarian”. Lovely.
Great topic!
My name is Jemima, and I actually love my name. I’ve never ever shared a grade with another Jemima, let alone a class! (Non-)issues below:
1. Mishearing/misspelling. Mishearing only really ever happens on the phone. However, I work as a receptionist part-time (I’m a student at uni) and the mishearings can be hilarious! I’ve had Timona, Simone, Tamara, Jemiah, etc. I never bother to correct them because I’m never going to talk to the person again. Non-issue. Misspellings are more annoying, but fairly uncommon. Some notable attempts: Jemimah and Gemima. People sometimes “assume” that my name is Jemma for simplicity (although I do understand that the ‘i’ could get lost sometimes). All up, though, I get far fewer misspellings than my twin sister, Gretel! Generally a non-issue (however, I do remember crying when I was 6 and starting a new grade at school because the teacher had written everyone’s name beautifully on the class notice board and I was a “Jemma”….)
2. Not being able to find personalised items. Non-issue. I’ve always been almost proud that my name is too rare to find on generic mugs/keyrings/t-shirts etc.
3. Lack of obvious nicknames. This has become a non-issue because I love that I get different names depending on who I’m with. I get ‘Jemi’ from family; ‘Mima’ from my grandma; ‘Jem’ from one group of friends; ‘Jam’ (??) from a different friend; ‘Mimey’ from cousins and just Jemima from other friends. I actually love it!
4. Syrup (???) connotation: I don’t live in America (I’m Australian), but whenever I see the name Jemima mentioned on name forums, I see people furiously debating the ‘racist connotations’. It doesn’t affect me at all, though. Non-issue.
I love my name!
Also, in case it makes a difference, I’m a 1994 girl :)
Jemima has been a long time favorite of mine and I have really gone back or forth on possibly naming a future daughter this name. I grew up in England where Jemima is a more common name and where, like Australia, there are no negative connotations with race. That issue had never even crossed my mind until I saw it come up on name message boards. I love that its so unusual but not unheard of, it reminds me of Jemima Puddleduck, not the syrup, and it has so many great nicknames. I still wonder if this race issue, that I still don’t really understand, is a big enough problem that it should prevent me from naming a daughter that who will be raised in the US. I’m glad to hear you love it though!
My name is Mandy. Mandy with a “y” not an “i”. Just Mandy, not Amanda.
I’ve always liked my name very much and I always felt a certain pride that my actual name is usually a nickname. I was born in ’83 so I feel like I was a little after the Barry Manilow boom. That definitely doesn’t stop people from occasionally serenading me with “Mandy.” I grew up liking that my name was in a song. My middle name was from a song too (“Allison” by Elvis Costello) though I used to think the songs were a little depressing to be named after.
I think it’s silly when people try to give me a nickname (Mand. Really?!) My name IS a nickname.
To sum it up, I like my name, I like that my official name is a nickname, and I really like that my name is not super common.
I was hoping someone else would comment on my name and I could chime in but unless I missed it, I don’t think anyone has.
I am Stacy and I was born in the same very brief window of time when every other Stacy was born. I don’t really like having a name that was extremely popular for a brief period of time and is no longer on the charts. I think I would like a more established name that never spiked into the top ten.
The spelling with an “e” is almost as common as without the “e” and so my name is misspelled most of the time. Nevertheless, I gave one of my sons a name that is almost always misspelled because I was drawn to the less used spelling.
It is a unisex name. My surname is also common and I used to live in the same town as a man with my exact first and last name. (I am female.) We were called Female Stacy Surname and Male Stacy Surname. This bothers me because I like names that clearly define gender. I named one of my sons what I thought was a male name and now it is unisex. There is no telling what name will “go girl” so that shouldn’t stop anyone from using a name they love but since I feel strongly about it, I am a little sad that I “stole” a male name.
I used to get called Tracy all the time when I was a kid but that hasn’t happened in adulthood. I wonder why? It was mildly annoying but it never happens now and my name is not mistaken for anything else.
I’m Hannah, born in 1993. I love my name now and think it fits me well, but I didn’t always like it. As a kid, I complained that my sister’s name (Julia) was much prettier, but I’ve grown into enjoying my name. A few thoughts:
Popularity: My parents thought they were choosing a totally unique name! I was one of three in my elementary school classes and always went by my last initial. This doesn’t bother me so much anymore. (And I feel like I run into Hannahs less frequently now than I used to, even though the name has risen in popularity since I was born.)
Time period: Even though it did have a spike in the late 90s/early 00s, I think it’s biblical origin keeps it from sounding trendy. This suits me — it’s not necessarily a bad thing to sound like you belong to your generation, but I generally am drawn to timeless names.
Family connections: My parents named me after my great-aunt Hanka, who was killed in the Holocaust when she was a teenager. As a kid, I liked having a namesake, but I was definitely creeped out when I turned 17 and was officially older than Hanka was when she died. It’s a morbid thing to wrap your head around. My grandfather died when I was young, but his brother, my great-uncle, has told me a little about her life, which has been cool to hear.
Initials: The one downside to my name is that my initials are HO. I’ve definitely gotten a few “ho” jokes. (All in good nature from friends… but still! Not ideal!) I wish my parents had thought that through a little more carefully, but I tend to skirt the issue by using my middle initial, as well, whenever I have to initial documents.
I grew up with a Julia and Hannah and always thought it was a lovely sib set :)
My name is Annabel and I have always loved it.
The fact that it is easy to pronounce from first reading makes up for the fact that there are a number of spellings. Seven letters is just about ok to spell out multiple times a day (when I worked in a job where I had to share my email address all the time). However, I have a very easy to spell surname and I think if I had to spell out my first name and surname it would be too much.
I tend to go by Annabel but I love that there are so many nicknames within my name – Annie, Anne, Anna, Bel, Bellie, etc. This means lots of people have different names for me, which I kinda like. Little kids tend to call Amabel or Abanel, both are charming.
I am 28 and I find that most other Annabels are much older or much younger. This doesn’t really bother me!
My name is Arden and I was born in 1984. Most of the issues with my name come from the fact that people frequently flip-flop it with my last name, which is a common first name. This has been a consistent issue at doctor’s offices — even after hyphenating my last name with my husband’s. It happens so much that I’m pleasantly surprised when a doctor comes into the room and addresses me appropriately. It happens less than 10% of the time and usually is the result of someone at the intake desk “fixing” my paperwork for me.
So, first off, Arden is not a good name if your last name is also a first name. Arden just doesn’t “read” to folks as a first name.
It is unisex and as a kid I often got mail from a local craft store addressed to “Mr. Arden _____” even though I’d indicated my gender when I signed up for their birthday club.
It is frequently confused with Aerdyn, Eden, Avon, Ardith and other unusual and similar-sounding names. I have had a few people call me Elizabeth — they point out the Elizabeth Arden connection when they meet me and then it sticks in their head.
Overall, I like my name. I wouldn’t choose it if you have a last name that is also a first name, though.
I have a daughter names Arden as well, born in 2010. I love the name and do does everyone we common contact with. The couple of things we encountered:1) initially drs offices called her Aiden and 2) how is it spelled. No one has confused her name nor associated with Elizabeth.
I’m Julia, coming from a Russian background. Within the Russian community, there’s always been another Julia, so “Julia Last Initial.” was common. I actually didn’t like it at all, and was quite happy when I was the only Julia in the group. I hate the nickname “Jules” and put a stop to it pretty fast when people start calling me that. Also, when people call me Julie—lovely name, it’s just not mine.
I’m Shannon (the first to post, no?), and born in 1985 (how’d you guess?!). I’ll borrow and address our host’s potential issues, and add a few of my own…
1. Possibly confusing similar names: MAJOR issue when it comes to my two soundalikes, Sharon and Janet. I grew up in a culturally diverse area with a number of immigrants from both Africa and South America, many of them unfamiliar with the name “Shannon,” and many people throughout my life have called me “Sharon” or “Janet” on the first try. I’m used to it and don’t mind.
2. Time-stamped: definitely. This name apparently peaked in the 1970s, a few years before my time, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a Shannon younger than me.
3. Spellings: not an issue. Occasionally I’m asked whether it has one N or two, but presumably only by people who have never seen it in print (because I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone named Shanon). Even the existence of Shannen Doherty hasn’t hurt the prevalence of my spelling.
4. Nicknames: not an issue. Friends and family refer to me affectionately as “Shanny,” “Shanzi,” or “Shan” on occasion, but no one else bothers–the name itself is simple enough. This is fine with me, as I have a pet peeve about the overuse of nicknames (especially ones that seem like they’re trying too hard, as any derivation of my name surely would).
5. Commonness: eh. My name apparently peaked in the 1970s, a few years before my time, and I find that very believable–I’ve never met a Shannon born after the ’80s. There were always a few other Shannons at the schools I attended, though never in any of my actual classes, which in my opinion is just common enough.
Other issues…
6. Gender: You know, it’s funny–all my life I’ve heard about the supposedly unisex quality of my name, but I’ve never met a male Shannon (though there is a moderately famous male R&B singer who has my exact name combo, first and last). According to the stats, it was conferred almost exclusively on girls from the 1940s through the 1970s, when apparently it crossed over into unisex territory and subsequently peaked. Again, though, I never met a male Shannon throughout my Midatlantic upbringing. (However, when I was a kid, I remember being asked by a man at the grocery store whether my name was Shannon “like the boy name?”–very alarming to me at the time, though later I thought that was really cool).
7. Sayability: HUGE issue for me. I was super shy growing up, and I found it difficult to introduce myself by first name because of the oddly whispery combination of syllables in my name. It was just kind of hard to enunciate it with any force, which meant I was forever having to repeat myself (this probably contributed substantially to issue #1 above). For this reason alone, I’ve disliked it in phases and would never recommend it to a prospective parent. On a related note, different dialects treat it differently. For instance, you know how many Philadelphians pronounce “can” differently depending on whether it’s being used as a noun or verb? I’ve gotten similarly ambiguous pronounciations of “Shannon,” leaving me uncertain which way to lean in my own muddled dialect.
Mid 80s Amanda here. I really am not a big fan of my name.
The big issue is of course popularity. I went to an elementary school with about 30 kids in my grade… there were 4 Amanda’s. In fact, my current job is the very first time in my life where I am not “sharing” the name, and I am pretty sure the only reason that is true is because most the workers are older. I bet as they replace more we get another Amanda. Also, I dislike sharing a name with many many clients. Its awkward to be like “hi Amanda, I am Amanda”. It happens frequently.
It is also a date stamp, but I don’t really mind that. But I have never fussed much about age.
People would also mock the name, thanks a lot Bart Simpson, who made the joke “Amanda Hug and Kiss” popular. There are many variations on this. Its not amusing. I also would get “she’s A MAN – DUH!!!!” Stupid.
I dislike the nickname. I don’t like Mandy and so often people would say “can’t one of you just go by Mandy?” when there were multiple Amanda’s. No. No, we can’t. (how rude!?!). As for my screen name – it is pronounced Man – Day, and its a nickname my sis called me when I was little, not something I use commonly. Just an easy screenname to get when most are taken.
I do like that its easily pronounced and spelled, obviously feminine. But… I kinda wish my parent’s had gone a different route, especially since they chose Amanda on impulse not knowing its popularity.
My name is Skye and I was born in the very early 80’s. I had one other Skye in high school and haven’t come across another one. I used to get is it short for Skyler but I don’t get that much anymore. I am learning to like my name as I get older but I got made fun of a lot. I still get the occasional older people (that haven’t matured) that will crack a joke. I 99% get my name spelled sky and probably 80% get it spelled ski. I have a twin so they would always say is your sister’s name ground, clouds, etc. In addition I would always get asked if my mom was a hippy, in which she wasn’t. My daughters name is Arden so I now sometimes get “well you had to name your daughter something unique since your name is so unique” which is totally not the reason why I named her so.
I’m Virginia, usually go by Ginny, born in ’81.
1. Name confusion: By far the most common issue with my name is that everybody assumes it’s Jenny — understandable given that I was born right amid the Jennifer craze. From my childhood I got used to introducing myself as, “Ginny, with a G — and an I, yes, that’s right, it’s for Virginia.” These days my close friends are often more zealous about correcting people than I am… for people I don’t see much I’ve given up caring. It’s always been a mild nuisance but not enough to make me wish I’d been given a different name.
2. Association #1: I was born in Illinois and named for my grandmother. When I was four years old we moved to the state of — yep, Virginia. Not something my parents could have predicted when they named me, as they had no connections there and moved for a job. When I was a kid it didn’t matter, except I remember one of my friends refusing to believe that I was named Virginia, because silly, that was a state’s name, not a person’s! But since I went by Ginny it never really came up. In my teens I started going by Virginia at my waitressing job, and every third customer thought it was clever to say, “Oh, Virginia in Virginia!” It was sort of tedious but, again, not a dealbreaker.
3. Association #2: I was in my teens when the Harry Potter books came out and in my 20s when Ginny Weasley became an important character. Fortunately she’s a great character, so it’s a positive association. It’s actually cut down a lot on the “No, not Jenny” explanations I have to do: I can just say “Ginny, like Ginny Weasley” and be done.
4. Popularity and the generation gap: I can only think of 3 other Virginias my age I’ve met in my whole life. It was always a big event for both of us, and created an insta-bond. That’s a fun thing about having an unusual name: when you do meet someone who shares it, you get really excited. Of course it’s much more strongly associated with my grandma’s generation — when I worked in a nursing home, there were three Virginias on my floor alone. That cross-generational association hasn’t had much impact on me, because it goes so far back. I doubt most people reading my name imagine that I was actually born in the ’20s. So it has the impact of a very rare name, while also being more familiar to people than something that hasn’t been used much in the last 150 years. My last name is very common, so I was always glad I got an unusual first name: my siblings all have very common names, and I felt glad to have dodged that.
5. Nicknames: I’ve always liked having two names I could use, and since my teens I’ve used both pretty often in different circles. In fact my only complaint growing up was that I didn’t have *more* nicknames (I considered Virgie, but no.) I wanted to be like that Elizabeth in the Anne of Green Gables books who had a different name for every mood. I love being known as Ginny by some people and Virginia by others — both have their own kind of specialness (often tied to where I was in life when I met them.)
6. Association #3: It’s telling that I didn’t even think of this one till now. I never faced much in the way of “virgin” jokes, probably mostly because I was homeschooled in the conservative-religious world. By the time I was interacting daily with large groups of secular peers (mostly my first few jobs and later college) they were too old to be making cracks like that. If I’d gone to public school, I imagine middle school could have been rough, but who knows?
My name is Margaret. I like it well enough, but there are some things that annoy me about it.
Spelling: Margret, Margrette, Margrit, Margit, etc. For some reason, it get misspelled a lot, even though I use the most classic spelling and it is spelled exactly how it sounds. Of course…
Mispronounced: There are THREE syllables in Margaret — Mar-ga-ret. It is NOT Mar-gret. That second “a” isn’t silent! If people would just say it right, they would probably spell it right…
“Megan” – My nickname is Meg, after the character in my mother’s favorite book, “Little Women”. I love the reason behind my nickname, but it annoys me to no end when people think it is short for (the much more popular in my generation) Megan instead of Margaret and proceed to call me Megan instead. Though Megan is a pretty name and can also be a nickname/variation for Margaret, it’s just not MY name/nickname, you know? That’s why Meg is primarily just a family nickname nowadays. I always introduce myself as Margaret to new people.
Confusion: I was named after my maternal grandmother, and when I was little, we lived in her house. On a daily basis, it wasn’t that confusing to have two Margarets in the same household, since I went by Meg and Dad was the only one who called my grandmother Margaret, but if somebody called asking for Margaret (no last name mentioned), there was always the question of “Which Margaret?” which was kind of annoying.
I named my daughter Margaret in 2012, so obviously I’m a huge fan. We basically do pronounce it with 2 syllables. The most common misspelling we see is, unsurprisingly, Margret, which I think is the German way?
Our Margaret’s nickname, which we use almost exclusively, is Maisy. We introduce her as “Margaret, and we call her Maisy.” We want her to know her real name and feel like it belongs to her. We have found it very rare that anyone has heard of Maisy or knows it is a traditional nickname for Margaret. When they do know, they spell the nickname Maisie, which is more common. Everyone thinks it is Macy, and some people actually seem to not hear a difference between the two. So I say “like daisy with an M.” It’s like the difference between lacy and lazy. Not that hard to perceive, or so I thought.
Sometimes I worry that Maisy won’t age well, but I love that Margaret has so many other awesome nicknames.
My first post here; I didn’t see my name pop up yet.
I’m Anitra, born late 70s. In my life, I have only met one other Anitra, born in the same year. It seems the only years that Anitra was slightly popular was in the late 70s, when it was the name of one of the popular models on the Price is Right. According to some sites, it is indeed a made-up name, by Ibsen. It’s most famous in the title “Anitra’s Dances” by Grieg. (This has led to some classical music aficionados asking if my parents loved classical music, which leads to me somewhat embarrassingly explaining that no, my parents just saw the name in a baby book and liked it.) I’ve been told it’s also a word for “duck” (the animal) in some Italian dialects, and that it sounds similar to an Indian name. But I’m American, so this hasn’t helped.
There is also no obvious nickname for my name, nor did my parents want me to have a nickname. I often use the pseudonym “Ann,” (more on that below), but this isn’t close to how my name is pronounced so I have only used it when I know someone is not likely to ever need my real name.
I wouldn’t say I hate my name – it was after all the one my dearly loved parents chose for me – but it has caused enough annoyance and hassles that I’m pretty judgmental about other parents giving their kids almost-never-seen names or made-up spellings. They may think it’s unique or clever or cute, but their kid is going to actually have to live with it.
My name is also similar enough to the more common Anita that when my name is written down, that’s what I’m often called. But it’s different enough from Anita that when I say it to people, they often have an expression on their face of, “I have no idea what your name is, and no idea how you’d even spell something like that.”
Everyone mis-spells or mispronounces it, or just plain can’t remember it. Outside of my immediate family, none of the rest of my family spells my name correctly. (Anetra and Anetria seem popular.)
1. Not a big deal, but growing up it bothered that I could never find my name, anywhere.
2. When seeing it written, people either don’t know how to pronounce it (uh-NEE-tra), or call me Anita. At anything official where I have to write down my name (doctor’s office, government offices, etc.), 8 times out of 10, they will call for “Anita,” at which I point I have to wait around to see if there’s actually an Anita there, and then go up and say, “I think you called for me.”
3. For reservations, orders, etc., I almost always use the pseudonym “Ann.” It’s just too much of a hassle Before I learned that “Ann” could make my life easier, conversations went like this: “My name is Anitra.” Pause. Confused expression. “What is it again? How do you spell that? Okay, let me see if I have this right..A..N..I..R..T..A?”
4. I suspect that because my name, when heard, is hard to visualize, it’s also hard to remember. I get alot of quizzical expressions from people I’ve met along the lines of, “I know your name is really difficult, so of course I don’t remember what it is.”
5. A more serious issue to me is that I’m one of only two Anitra (last name) in the entire world, from what I can tell. This means that with google and a couple of minutes, one can find alot of information about me, including every place I’ve lived, where I went to school, the degrees I hold, my work history, my parents’ names, my year of birth, and on and on. And all without ever accessing a linkedin or facebook page. I hate being this easily traceable and when I was a single female living on my own, it was sometimes a bit scary. My best friend, who also has an uncommon name, also began using a pseudonym when meeting people because otherwise, it was just too easy to hear/see our names, go on the internet, and find out a ridiculousness amount of information about us.
So, I’ve given my own children not super popular names, but ones that everyone has heard of with very common spellings.
Well, I’m breaking All My Rules about not using my real name online, but I have thought a LOT about my name, so I thought I would share.
My given name is Elizabeth Johnson, with a middle name that was my grandmother’s. It doesn’t flow particularly well with the rest of my name, but I love having it because of the familial connection. It is also, coincidentally, the feminine form of the name that all of the men/boys in my mom’s side of the family have somewhere in their names.
When I was a kid, I hated how common my name was. I can pretty much guarantee that every class I am in will have at least one other Elizabeth. I still joke about it a bit, but I have actually really come to appreciate it. I LOVE having a name with a million nickname options– and for that reason, even having the most common name ever wasn’t really an issue. Many Elizabeths have different nicknames. When I was young (up until age 14), I went by “Lizzy.” This was mostly among friends and family, though I was sometimes Lizzy in school– it just depended on the year/teacher. I think that was a good name for a kid, and I’m glad I got to be Lizzy for a few years.
As a got a bit older, though, I started feeling like Lizzy was “young” for me. I tried changing the spelling, messing with Lizzie and Lizzi, but that was clearly not the solution. So, at age 14, I actively sought out a new nickname. I thought about Ellie and Lily, considered Libby VERY briefly, and if I had it to do over again, I may also have thought about Eliza. In the end, though, I settled on Litza– very uncommon!
I have really enjoyed having Litza as my nickname. It can be a bit problematic, but I still love it.
Issues with Litza:
1. Few people can pronounce it when they see it written, or spell it when they hear it said. Not a big deal. I correct people with whom I am likely to have ongoing contact, and let it go otherwise. I often find myself being “Lisa” accidentally, in short conversations or in Starbucks. When I introduce myself I really enunciate my name, which helps. I’ve also gotten used to the exchange:
“Hi, I’m Litza.”
“Lisa?”
“No, Litza. L-I-T-Z-A.”
“Ohh, Lit-za.”
“No, Litza. Um… well, if it’s helpful, it rhymes with ‘pizza.'”
It is always helpful, but then I have to rapidly break people of the habit of calling me “Litza Pizza,” which is far from a desirable nickname.
2. Because I use Litza almost exclusively (except on official documents), it can occasionally lead to some confusion. In order to help people understand me over phone, I sometimes make appointments using “Elizabeth,” and then forget I’ve done that. I sound a little confused. “Hi, I’m here for an appointment for Litza… Erm, or maybe Elizabeth?”
Neither of this is a big deal to me. I like my name a lot. It’s very “me.” I love having the longer name with nickname options or that can be used as-is. I adore the nickname I’ve chosen, and like that I got to pick it. I like how it sounds, how it looks, and how unusual it is; that balances out the popularity of both Elizabeth AND Johnson, and I appreciate that.
Litza is my GIVEN name. I have LOVED it all my life. Where you chose it as a nickname to Elizabeth, I was given it as my name as derived from Elizabeth LOL. My grandmother refused to let me be called Elizabeth so my Mom came up with Litza. For 50 years I have been Litza!! Like you I have spend most of that spelling it and having the same conversation but no hesitation about ..
Lisa?
No – Litza like pizza.
Everyone laughs and we go on BUT they will always remember me and my name :)
I was in my early to mid 30’s before I had ever even heard it as a name for anyone else. Have only physically met 1. I even work for a HUGE WORLD-wide company and am the ONLY Litza in the GAL. Once I realized there were more out there I have spent time exploring the name. As I said it may have it’s challenges but I would NEVER change it!!
No Alices yet! That’s me, a late 1970s Alice, and the only one I’d ever met until I went to college. When I was growing up, people always said to me, “That’s my grandmother’s name!” As a result, I used to hate my name but now I love it for a younger generation. When I meet little Alices, I think it’s delightful, but that’s because little Alices fit with the little Pearls, Evelyns and Rubys running around. Alice born in 1978, on the other hand, was a big, fat old-fashioned outlier among the Kristens, Jennifers and Melissas of my era. Today, however, I’m happy I have a classic name steeped in literary history that is distinctive in my generation.
Positives:
Classic, familiar but not common, not nickname-needy (a few people have tried Allie or Al over the years, but it’s never really stuck), simple and easy to spell (though you’d be surprised at the butchering some people do), generally quite adaptable internationally
Negatives:
Being called Allison: People used to ask me all of the time if my name was short for Allison, which bugged me simply because they are clearly distinct names — Alice is and has never been a short form of Alison. Other people just called me Alison because they forgot and it was more popular at the time, which also annoyed me. Doesn’t happen much anymore though.
Being teased for the many cultural references to Alice: Alice in Wonderland, for example. Or, for a time, “Alice, Alice, who the f***is Alice?”, which is a song if you’re not familiar. “Go ask Alice”, Alice’s Diner, “To the moon, Alice”, Alice in Chains, Alice Cooper, etc etc. All have been lobbed my way — not a big issue, but certainly an ongoing one. I’ve also been called Aurora Bore-alice, which is actually sort of endearing.
References to wimpy men: Apparently men, particular of the football coach variety, use the term “Alice” to make fun of other men for being girly, weak, slow, etc. Not my favorite association, but one that doesn’t really have much impact on my life.
Marrying an Alex: That’s what I did and as a result, I’m constantly being called Alex.
I’m a 1994 Laura who was most definitely named after Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I like my name. I was the only Laura in my grade, although there was one two grades above me and another two below. Being from the Lauren generation causes some confusion. I’ve only gotten Laurie and Lara a few times.
My last name gives me more issue than my first name. It’s Sprague, but gets misheard a lot. I usually say LaurA Sprague-S-p-r-a-g-u-e. That happened after it got written as Spread and Sprig.
My middle name is also my mother’s middle name, and part of my grandmother’s name. It’s my favorite part of my name, and I do plan on giving it to a daughter.
I am a 1980s Loren and I am piggybacking here because I have been called Laura a fair amount. Mostly my name is spelled wrong as Lauren.
Confusion with way more common variant- my mom insists that Loren is a separate name from Lauren and even that it is pronounced differently, but no one else thinks that. She says “I didn’t name you LAHW-ren!” Surprise, surprise, their parents didn’t either, and most people say it the same.
Spelling- Loren is the male spelling, which bothered me a lot when I discovered it. It only actually confuses older people, not my own peers. A lot of junk mail comes to Mr. Loren … At least Loren the man name is a real name with a history of use, not just made up by my parents.
Nickname – my mom chose my nickname, Lori, and then decided to elaborate it to Loren. I hated Loren as a kid but liked Lori. The older I get, the more I have reverted to Loren. Now I always forget how certain people know me, except that family and childhood friends all call me Lori. Loren sounds much better with my married name, which has been a major impetus for the gradual transition. I feel like Lori is my identity, but I do think it’s both insubstantial and dated. I am not the kind of person to have an “i” name.
I am a female Tommie born in 1970. My dad is Tom, short for Thomas. My middle name is Gean, spelled that way because my dad’s middle name started with a G. My mother was born in Memphis and had a female cousin named Tommye Jean and so I was named for both sides of the family. Though I have to say I was born in north eastern Indiana and have never gone by Tommie Gean. I’ve always just been Tommie.
Biggest issue is everyone asking if my parents wanted a boy. No. They swear they didn’t name me Tommie because they wanted me to be a boy.
I’ve been called Tammy, Toni and Bobbie more often than I can count.
I almost didn’t date my husband because of the name issue. See, he’s Tom. So yes, in the end Tommie ended up marrying a Tom. Yikes!
My mom has told me that she wanted to name me Kelly but a friend had a daughter named Kelly just a couple of months before I was born. In the end, I was glad not to be Kelly because there were two others in my class from Kindergarten through graduation from high school. My mom also really like the name Vanessa while my dad wanted Veronica.
In the end, I think Tommie was the best choice for me, though if I were to rename myself I really think I’d go with Jane.
During my teen years I always thought I’d give any future daughters names that could be shortened to a boyish/unisex nickname but in the end, I have an Alyssa and an Olivia, so make of that what you will.
My name is Sarah:
1) it was the number 5 name the year I was born. This means I was always in a class with at least 2 other girls named Sarah. As someone with a long surname I can’t tell you how annoying it was to constantly have to write out my full name.
2) for such a popular name no one can seem to spell it. I have seen Sahra, Sarha, Shara, and Sara. Even to this day I have to say ‘Sarah with an ‘h”
3) growing up with sisters named Erin and Bridget I always thought Sarah sounded plain and boring.
4) it just didn’t fit me. All the other Sarah’s I knew where frilly princess types and that wasn’t me. The fact that it actually meant Princess ensured my great disdain for the name went even deeper.
5) no plausible nickname options. Sadie and Sally were both old fashioned in the 80’s. Shortening it to ‘Sare’ was just silly. In an era of Abby, Gabby, Jenny, Jessie etc I desperately wanted a nickname.
All in all I still dislike the name Sarah, but after 30 years I am kind of stuck with it.
Love this topic! My name is Anna and I often go by Annie, Anne, or Anzie with family and friends. I was born in the early 90’s and was named after my mother’s sister. I love my name and can’t imagine having another, it suits me perfectly and I love that it is classic and timeless while still not being overly popular. I only had two other Anna’s in my high school graduating class of 500+ people, however one of the other Anna’s and I were in elementary school together so I was Anna plus my last name initial. Growing up, I got the “Anna Banana” thing a lot, but it never bothered me. The only problems I have experienced are being called Hannah or Ana, which happens quite frequently when first meeting people, but is easily corrected.
Crystal!
1. It occasionally got confused with names with a similar sound in school if there were lots of us with similar names in a class. On that note though I never had another Crystal in a class until I got to college. I had a class with five Crystal’s in college. Only time any of us have ever had that happen.
2. Spelling is more than an issue than it should be I think. I often say “like the rock” and it still gets spelled wrong. Krystal, Kristal, Christal, Chrystal, etc.
3. Nicknames are an issue. Male teachers throughout school always tried to call me Chris and no amount of “Please call me Crystal” helped. The dads of friends do it to.
4. The association with actual crystals led to jokes in science classes but they were well meaning and usually funny.
I have always liked my name though; much better than my parent’s original choice. Don’t really like my very common middle name though even if it is a family name.
I’m a Crystal, born in ’80. I do not like my name at all! I knew a ton of people with the same name growing up and it was such an issue that if I heard someone calling my name in the hall at school, I didn’t look because I assumed they were calling for one of the others. My best friend during elementary school was Kristal.
99.9% of the time it’s spelled wrong. It’s become entertaining to go to Starbucks and see what they come up with next. Recently I got Christle. What the heck is that?? My father-in-law still adds an h to my name.
I get called Christy or Crissy or Krista by people leaving business voicemails. I really don’t like those nicknames at all.
I either get “you know that’s a stripper’s name, right?” or “Crystal blue persuasion…” and now people joke about crystal meth. Strippers in movies are VERY OFTEN named Crystal.
Crystal doesn’t fit me but I’ve tried to come up with an alternate to change it to and have never figured anything suitable out. My husband (and a few other people close to me) calls me Crys and that’s as good as it’s going to get, I think.
I’m a 1982 Megan. The popularity of my name was a big issue, and I never once had a class without at least one other Megan in it. Despite the popularity my name was, and still is, frequently misspelled as Meghan. Other spellings too but that’s the most common that I get, and I probably have more people who don’t know me write “Meghan” instead of “Megan.” My name is both time-stamped pretty well (though there are young Megans still) and misunderstood. Megan is NOT a “classic Irish name” but rather a Welsh pet form of Margaret that many people latched on to as being Irish. It’s a nickname, and a relatively modern one without much history, and it’s highly popular in the “Irish American” crowd. I grew up being told that it was a classic name from our family history dating back to Ireland only to find it wasn’t true, it’s just that my parents liked names that were common in the early ’80’s and it was listed as being Irish in a baby name book (other Megans I’ve talked to say almost the same thing). So yeah, I’m not a fan of my name, and to top it off I’m not really a fan of the sound of it either. I asked to be called Mae growing up but got laughed out of the room :-P I’m sure when I list my issues with my own name it becomes clear why I’ve given my children uncommon, grown up sounding names with a lot of history and meaning behind them. Sure spelling gets messed up from time to time, but if that can happen with something as exceedingly common and simple as “Megan” it could happen with anything.
My name is Sarah and I was born in the mid 80’s (when Sarah was a top 5 name) and I love my name. My dad picked my name for me, and a large part of the reason he picked it was because it meant “Princess”. I am not, nor have I ever been a princessy person, but I do love that my dad thinks of me as his princess.
Popularity. I meet a lot of Sarah’s and it has never bothered me. It always felt like a special “Sarah” club when I was little and I think the fact that Sarah is a classical name helps keep it from being as date stamped as most of the names from the 80’s. It DID bother me that my gym teacher in high school had a daughter with my same first and middle name, as she was constantly screaming at her daughter during class and making me jumpy. (My middle name is Ruth, which is much less popular and thus I guess I feel more ownership of it, even though I consider it an unattractive name.)
Nicknames. I like both the nicknames Sally and Sadie, but I never went by either of them…few people know they are the “classical” nicknames for Sarah.
Misspelling. Sarah is the spelling with the most history and I like that about my name. I also like it in print as the S and the H are both tall letters that border the name well. I don’t mind if people misspell my name UNLESS you are family and should know better, or you are replying to a facebook message or email from me. In those cases misspelling my name feels disrespectful.
Mid-80s Molly here! I can’t really think of any drawbacks. People, name your children Molly! I love my name and think that it suits me perfectly. It’s nearly impossible to spell wrong and since I have the predominant spelling, I rarely even get asked ie or y. This has been supremely helpful since both my maiden and married last names are constantly/always mispronounced and spelled incredibly wrong. I never had another Molly at school all the way through college. Of course, after college everyone I know has another friend named Molly, which drives me crazy! The other Mollys are nearly all farmer’s daughters, which I do kind of love though — it is such a perfect farmer’s daughter name. The main criticism I’ve seen on forums is that people think it’s a very little girl or old lady name. As an almost 30 Molly, I can safely say that it is has been completely unproblematic as an adult.
I am a Martha born in 1985. I was named after my great-grandmother, who passed away when I was three years old.
1. My name has always been an old person name. I have only ever met two Marthas my own age.
2. Growing up in a Christian family, I heard the story of Mary and Martha so often it makes my teeth grit. Yes, Martha was the one who did the housework and didn’t listen to Jesus. I’ve never been neat and tidy and lady-like so I didn’t identify with that story!
3. People liked to say ‘Martha Martha Martha’ like ‘Marsha Marsha Marsha’ from the Brady Bunch. That’s the one that annoys me the most, probably, because it is a totally different name!
3. My best friend in high school was a Charlotte, and we joked that Martha and Charlotte sounded like a two eccentric great-aunts. Of course, now Charlotte is widely popular!
As an adult, I love my name. It has been helpful in my career to have an older-sounding name. It must not bother me, because I gave my daughter a slightly fusty sounding name as well, Era (rhymes with Sarah). I love that Martha is picking up in popularity in the UK. I think that Martha and other Bible names will always be in use. My name is unusual enough that I am rarely in the company of another Martha, and I appreciate that.
I always felt defensive for Martha in that story. THOSE THINGS NEED TO BE DONE WHEN THERE ARE GUESTS IN THE HOUSE. It’s just like a man to be all “Stop fussing around with the cooking and cleaning while I’m talking.”
Amber from the early 80’s! It was a fairly common name where I grew up, and sometimes there was another Amber in class, but it was never a big issue. It’s an easy to spell name without any real nickname potential, so I wasn’t really teased as a kid.
I’ve never been a huge fan of my name, though I do get told that it “fits me” frequently. It does seem date stamped to the 80’s. When I was abroad in college, people would comment on what an odd name it was – the perception was Amber is a color, not a name. But I never ran into that issue in the U.S.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been called Autumn, Amy or Ashley…I’d be writing this from my retirement villa overlooking the ocean somewhere where it’s 80 degrees year round. :)
I’m an early-70s Carmen and I absolutely love my name! Everyone can spell it, no one mispronounces it, 99.99% of people know that I’m female when only given my name. People sometimes shorten it to Carm, which I don’t mind, but no one uses that exclusively; maybe I would mind if they did, but Carm seems harder to say than Carmen so people tend to avoid it. It’s not a family name; I think my mom has said that she read a book with a character named Carmen when she was pregnant. I usually get “Oh, like the opera!” if anyone comments at all.
In the late 60s-early 70s Carmen peaked at #144, so it seems that I should have met many other Carmens in my life, but I’ve only ever met three others (and two of them were born the year after me in my teeny tiny hometown of 1000 people) and I’ve lived on both sides of North America and in Europe. So while it’s not uncommon, in practicality, it’s ended up being much more rare. [My son’s name is Kieran (rank ~#550) and we’ve met more Kierans than I have Carmens]
Twice in the last 20 years a random cashier/waiter has thought my name was Carmine and was concerned that I had the name of an Italian man. As a child, I wasn’t teased for my first name, but rather my Dutch last name which lent itself so easily to teasing. The only things kids ever said about Carmen was to call me “Carmen Monoxide”; I’m 41 years old and many years out of fifth grade, but to this day I still have to concentrate to make sure I say “carbon monoxide” rather than “carmen monoxide”. :)
I have no idea if it’s time-stamped. I guess it’s dropped considerably in ranking since I was born (last year was #331) but I’m not sure if that’s enough of a drop to consider it time-stamped.
“Carmon Monoxide!” Ha! When I was in 8th grade, the boy I had a crush on started calling me “Rachel Discrimination” when we were learning about racial discrimination. It’s not even funny, but I still remember it.
My name is Anne, and I was named after my mother’s mother. My middle name is Theresa, after my father’s mother.
Pronunciation: I HATE being called Annie. My maiden name was Rigby, which made a rhyme — Annie Rigby — which I hated. The last name also led to the nickname Eleanor, after the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby — and no, being born in 1986, I hadn’t heard the song until my eighth grade teacher sang it to me.
Spelling: Ann seems to be more traditional, and it will occasionally be spelled this way. Once, someone told me that Anne is a first name and Ann is a middle. I loved this idea!
There aren’t many nicknames for Anne (other than Annie) although my friends growing up came up with Enna (Anne backwards) and Annual. They are the only people to ever call me these. I’ve been called Anna Banana and Annabelles by family, and quite often go by both my first and middle to many family members.
Growing up, I hated my name, and am still not a big fan. I would still prefer to be an Anna, or even a Theresa. I briefly considered changing the order of my names as a teenager, but didn’t want to hurt my grandmother’s feelings. It is nice sharing a name with my Nanas, I just wish the names weren’t so dated!
My name is Caroline and I was born in 1993.
I have always gone by Caroline. My mom sometimes calls me Carolina (Caro-leena) or Lina (leena) and my dad calls me Colorado (just a random nickname that stuck).
I have loved my name but when I was younger I was always a bit bummed that I had no “cute” nickname. Carol and Carrie never appealed to me. Now I think Cara or Carly could maybe work, but I enjoy just being Caroline!
The main issue that I have is when people call me Carolyn. I was named after my great grandmother Carolyn, but I’m Caroline. The word LINE is in my name, so it bothers me when people say Carolyn. If there are instances when people call me Carolyn and I’ll never really interact with them again (i.e. in a Starbucks line or ordering food or something), then I just deal with it if they repeat my name as Carolyn.
That’s really the only “issue” and it’s not a huge issue at all. A simple “no, with an -ine at the end” usually fixes it.
I’m a Carolyn who always gets called Caroline so I feel your pain! Even,no especially after I verbally introduce myself as Caro-LYN, the listener will respond, Hi CaroLINE! I have an uncle who still calls me Caroline–not sure if it’s a joke or he somehow doesn’t realize??
And the frustrating thing is that people consider the pronunciations to be interchangeable. Have you ever paid attention to Jake Ryan’s girlfriend’s name in the movie 16 Candles? It’s listed as Caroline in the credits. He calls her CaroLYN, Molly Ringwald calls her CaroLINE and it’s a crapshoot as to how the other actors pronounce it. And I don’t believe the pronunciation error was intentional for the plot.
Very interesting post!
My name is Ailsa and I live in Wales in the UK. Would you know my age from my name? No, I don’t think so – it is not tied to any particular decade, and has never been in the top 100 (I don’t think it is even in the USA top 1000!)
I am 60 and was born in 1953, among a plethora of Lindas, Susans and Rosemarys. Children don’t often like to “stand out” from their contemporaries, and I have had a lifetime of having to spell and pronounce my name to people, who see it written down and immediately transpose the letters and think I am “Alisa”. I have, in my time, been called Elsa, Elsie, Hazel, Isla, and Elspeth, among many others! It is not a difficult name – it is Scottish Gaelic from the little island Ailsa Craig off the island of Mull, and is said just as it looks. AIL-suh.
I have been fascinated with names and their popularity since I was a little girl, when I used to copy birth announcements out of The Times newspaper. We are all so lucky today to have such ease of access to statistics on the internet, and it is great to have blogs like this one.
PS I do love my name. It is different without being outlandish, and I like it that if someone says “Ailsa”, I know they are talking to me and not another Ailsa.
I am a 1994 Katherine.
1. Popularity: My name was #30 when I was born, not far from its peak at #25 in 1991. There was almost another Katherine/
Catherine/Kathryn in my grade throughout school, and there were 8 in my graduating class, two with similar last names to mine. Thankfully many went my nicknames.
2. Nicknames: While it was nice that a lot of other Katherines go by nicknames, I never have. This has never stopped people from trying though! I have had multiple teachers and bosses who wouldn’t give up on calling me Katie, and people from older generations when Kathy was very popular assume I answer to that.
Both of these things have only been small issues and haven’t prevented me from loving my name. In my opinion, it’s a little bit boring but fits me well and I am glad I have a very classic name!
I’m Ann. I love my name, and always have. It’s my mother’s middle name, and my paternal grandmother was Joann.
The name is common, but not overly used. The biggest hassle is people spelling it with an ‘e’. Anne is a fine name, but it’s not MY name (as has been mentioned by other posters about their names). In fact, due to “Anne of Green Gables”, I had a strong dislike of the name Anne (and the books) for quite some time.
“If you must call me Anne, be sure to call me Anne with an e.” “What difference does it make how it’s spelled?” “When you say a word, can’t you see how it looks in your head? I can. And A-n-n looks absolutely horrid. A-n-n-e looks much more dignified, don’t you think?”
Needless to say, it has taken me getting to know and like a few Annes to come around to accepting the name as decent :)
I refused all nicknames until the end of college. I now answer to Anni to a few close friends (notice, no ‘e’ there either).
I suggest the name Ann to most of my friends expecting babies. I think most of them find it too plain. I disagree with that opinion. :)
I’m so glad you like your name! We’re about halfway through telling our immediate families that this next little girl is going to be an Ann. I feel guilty about spelling it without the e, because I’m pretty sure everyone is going to assume that it’s supposed to be there and it will be a lifelong hassle for her, but Anne Shirley actually left the exact same impression on me as you…despite Ann not being my name. Because of that passage, I associate that extra E with silliness and frivolity and think of it as right up there with i’s you can dot with hearts for things that mostly appeal to 13 year old girls. (Her other favorite name was Cordelia, which I know some people like now, but gah!).
My name is Elisabeth, and I was born in the mid-1980’s.
1) Spelling. I always have to spell it, everywhere I go. Both my maiden name and married surname are of the “always-spell” variety as well. It gets misspelled all the time, but I’m just sort of used to it by now.
2) The spelling makes it unusual, but the overall name is still really common. I still had to add my last initial to my name all the time in school. I went to some scholarship interviews my senior year in high school with 50 girls. 6 of us were named Elizabeth!
3) Nicknames. I don’t go by any nicknames, but people always assume that I do.
I’m Breanna born in 1985. I really like my name, but I do have a few minor issues with it:
1) Spelling. I always always have to emphasize that it’s spelled with an E, not an I.
2) Pronunciation. It’s Bree-ANN-uh, not Bree-ON-uh. I don’t really care that much, but it makes my husband insane if someone mispronounces my name and he will correct them every last time. Which makes it particularly troublesome that my father-in-law can’t get the pronunciation right to save his life.
3) The name peaked sharply about a decade after I was born, so now with my 7 week old baby I am always thinking that places will think I’m a teen mom. However, maybe when I am 50 it will make me seem extra-youthful. It’s just a little odd to be in the wrong decade. It was quite rare when I was born and I never met another Breanna (of any spelling) until adulthood.
My name is Shannon.
Is your name common/uncommon?
Relatively common. Not an issue. It is a more common in people a little younger than me.
Time-stamped, either to your own generation or to the “wrong” generation?
I think it “belongs” to the generation born in the 70s-80s. Not an issue.
Hard to spell/pronounce?
Not hard to spell or pronounce. There are a few variant spellings but they are not common.
Easily confused with other names?
It is quite often misheard as Sharon or even Janet. Not a big deal.
Is it the kind of name where people say, “Oh, like ___?,” or automatically make the same joke/reference?
Yes I get ” like the river” or “the airport” a lot. Or “you must be Irish.” It’s ok.
Does it rhyme with or sound like something awkward?
No.
Were you teased about it as a child?
No.
Is it a good/poor fit with your personality?
I could think of others that might fit me better but this one is fine.
Do you have to fight off a nickname you don’t like?
No. No one has ever tried to make a nickname out of it, which is good because there isn’t one that I would like.
Is it the same name as another family member’s?
No.
What are some of the things someone could have wondered about at the time of naming, and have those turned out to be issues or not?
I am not sure! I know it’s also a boy’s name and a surname, but as usage became more common for girls, most people assume girl when they hear it. I would not really be happy to have a name that people assumed was male.
I was a 1979 Jennifer Brown.
My story is the same as many other Jennifers out there: was one of six in every grade at school, one of three with the EXACT same first/last combo in high school, and one of nine at the doctor’s office, one of eleven at community college… need I go on? One year, my husband gave me the forms for a legal name change for my birthday (God bless the man). ‘Jenna’ may not seem too far removed from ‘Jennifer’, but it was something even the distant relatives could remember.
Oddly enough, I have two half-sisters. One is a 1990s Katie; the other is a 2000s Maykayla. Obviously, common names didn’t deter our parents.
For naming my own children, any name in the in the Top 100 is TOTALLY OFF THE LIST. Each of the kids has their own unique (not made-up… just uncommon), straight-forward name. And each of them has been given the cautionary tale of “Mama’s old name”, so they do not put their own little ones through the same fate some day.
As for always finding my name on personalized doo-dads, my name was there, but the item was always sold out! Hah!
Being called by my social security number over the intercom at school really put things in perspective for me… no one wants to be a number. It’s hard to feel like a person without an identity.
Great topic, Swistle.
I cannot wait to read these comments! Real name: Nancy, and am in my mid-thirties. So, wrong generation name, and it has been an issue. Especially since Nancy Regan was the common Nancy during my young years and she was so OLD and I hated being teased by being called her name.
It is still a bit of an issue now, since people expect an older person, not my age when they meet me.
But the tie to the person I’m named after surpasses that issue mostly.
Amie born in late 70s.
I hated my name growing up because it was spelled “the wrong way” according to most people and I could never get personalized pencils or mini license plates like my sisters could. I am neutral about my name now and find it suits me just fine.
The main issues I’ve had are popularity and spelling. As for popularity I was one of at least two or three Amy’s in my small graduating class. I never had a huge issue with it though because I was an “IE” and they were “Y” or “IMEE”. So I was still Amie last initial during roll call but easily identified on paper.
Due to the spelling I’ve been called aNNie or aRnie incorrectly. As you can imagine, Annie wasn’t the issue, but Arnie, I would rather not be called that. Always having to spell my name or remind people of the correct spelling was the bigger issue though nothing I’d say is a deal breaker. I am used to it now.
As for nicknames I’ve been called Ames, Amers, Aimster…you name it. I like that it is a name that allows for a nickname but doesn’t make people feel like they have to use it like they may for a longer name like Jennifer/Jenny or Kathleen/Kate.
Time stamp, I think it does ring a late 70s bell to most people and am cool with that for the same reasons you like the time stamp of your own name. I’m obviously not a grandmother or a five year old.
Oh man! This has made me feel completely unable to name my baby due in 10 weeks! Some people love nicknames, other people hate them. As with unusual names, common names, date-stamped names. My 5 yr old is Tully, an old Gaelic name, and he tells me all the time he should have been named George! And I had to sympathise with the parents of the Jennifers and Sarahs who didn’t know its popularity – We named our 3 yr old Eve. It sounded so fresh yet classic, and now all it’s alternatives made ‘Evie’ very common. Sigh.
I’m Jodi. I’ve never really loved my name, another reason I’ve always struggled to name my kids. I only know people my name who are my age. (Born 1980) It’s never felt like me. Some people call me Jo, which I prefer, but still feels like it belongs to someone else.
Mine is the less common spelling, but I like it more, and I haven’t minded when people got it wrong. I would probably care more if my parents had spelled it Jodee or something made up.
Apparently the alternative would have been Rebecca, and I know lots and lots of those! It turns out my parents just have very different taste in names to me!
People with unisex names don’t seem to be hugely in favour of the them. I’d love to hear more from other ladies with ‘boyish’ names. :)
That’s me. It’s not even really unisex because to see it on paper one would automatically think male. I know I do. I didn’t have a problem with it as a child even though I went through elementary school with a boy with the same name…I don’t think he was teased either.
The name jumped for males the year I was born (late 60s) and appeared in the top 1000s for girls. It remained popular for boys but really just hovered near the bottom for girls until it disappeared 25 years later. I frequently wished for a prettier name growing up and tried for awhile to get people to call me by my first and middle names, but it didn’t stick. I had five siblings, 2 girls and 2 boys before me, so no, my parents weren’t wishing for a boy) and they all had gender specific names.
It is much more annoying having this name as an adult. I don’t like to be thought of as a man and while it is usually an honest mistake, I get annoyed when people do a double take.
Funny part is it would have been really difficult if I had fallen in love with a Michael or a William as it would raise some eyebrows to see it written out. My husband has a name the exact opposite of mine…to see it on paper you automatically think female. He did get a bit more teasing than I did, but not for long as he is not the type to take it. It is amusing though because we do get get mixed up for each other and I do have to emphasize the “husband” and the “he” part when I am listing him as my significant other and he isn’t with me and vice versa.
I don’t have children but know I would definitely not have given my daughter a unisex name…but maybe a pretty name with a boyish nickname…
Is this the only cliff-hanger of all the replies?
Kyle? Married to a Shannon or a Kelly?
I really like unisex names especially for girls. My middle name is Jon and I love it.
Daryl? Or Glenn? Married to a Kerry, Kelly, or Dana? Please do update us!
I know a woman Charlie married to a man Stacey….so maybe something like that.
A Colleen already posted, so I’ll just add:
I was born in 1975 so, unlike her experience, I kind of do feel like the name dates me a bit. East Coast in a Catholic school with a fair amount of Irish, so people knew how to pronounce it.
Always loved my name, even when my mom bought me a mug that said “guest” because she had personalized mugs for everyone else, and couldn’t find one for me. (As a “guest” I attempted to get out of doing dishes *grin*)
I agree with the other Colleen: Spelling troubles always made me a bit sad for humankind. Don’t try to make it harder than it really is. (I just say Colleen, two Ls, two Es)
It doesn’t surprise me that I am the first Diana to chime in. I’m 58 and was born in the era of Lisa, Mary, Linda, Karen, Kathy, Nancy, Kathy and Diane. And that’s actually the only problem. Most people assume my name is Diane/Dianne. I never quite understood why Diane has been more popular than Diana, which I think is the prettier name. I’d be curious to know what reasons others might give for this.
Most of my life I have stood out as the only Diana, all the way through my education including at the woman’s college I attended, which really surprised me. My best friend as a child was Diane. After college, I had a best friend named Deanna. As a working adult, at one company, I was surrounded by 2 Dianes and 1 Dianna. That was unique. And now my new neighbor is a Diana.
I don’t mind the lack of nicknames. My in-laws call me Di, the only people I allow to do so, and my family uses D. Anything else by anyone else is verboten. The funniest thing is that I am married to a Charles, so some people try to call me Lady Di or Princess Di. But not for long! :-)
So, issues? Getting my name right and then spelling it right (one N vs two). But I really love my name!!
I think Diana is a beautiful name.
I prefer Diana
I think the -a ending for feminine names goes in and out of style, and might have been in for your grantparents’ generation (think of all the Wilmas, Ednas, Claras, and Thelmas), making Diane feel like the less fusty and old fashioned alternative to the people who named your generation. Which of course means that we see it the exact opposite way now = ).
Ooh, fun. My given name is Catherine, my preferred nickname is Kate or Katie. My parents thought I was going to be a boy, and were unprepared to name me, so they didn’t consider too many issues at all when naming me.
I like my name. There are a few issues with it, but none of them really bother me. All in all I think it’s a great, timeless classic and I’m pleased my grandmother suggested it at the last minute!
Spelling: there are many variations and I therefore always have to spell my name for people. I commonly find it spelled with a K anyway. This doesn’t bother me.
Nicknames: I dislike the nickname Cathy. Yet, for several years in middle school and the first half if high school I went by it because so many people assumed it was ok to call me that and I was not persistent enough to stop them. It seemed easier to just answer to it. My preferred nickname was always Katie and my family members and close friends all called me that, so I didn’t really care if others called me Cathy. I went by Cat for awhile in college, which I did like quite a bit, but felt like I could not carry that into adulthood. It was hard to introduce myself as Cat at my first real job. So I went back to Kate then.
As a result, I do have different sets of people in my life who call me different names. This can be confusing, but I also appreciated having the kind of name that can adapt to different times in your life and give you the opportunity to try on different personas.
Popularity: my name was not all that common in my birth year (it was ranked 75 in 1977), and yet I had at least 1 other Catherine in my class every year I was in grade school. I went to high school with 2 other Catherines. It’s just how the cookie crumbled, I guess. But, it didn’t bother me. It was just like there were 3 Michaels and 3 Johns. No biggie. Luckily we didn’t repeat last initials!
Oh I love reading these comments!
I’m Jaida, born in 1980. My parents named me after a same-aged girl my mother had babysat, so there was at least one other one around. However, she spelled it Jada, as do the majority of the others I have come across and I don’t think I ever even met her in person.
The only real issue is spelling/pronunciation. People try to make it so HARD. My mom thought my spelling would be more easily phonetically deduced, but notsomuch. It is often misheard as Jana or Janet, so I almost always spell it out the first time I say it. Often in a crowded place like Starbucks I will use a more common pseudonym to prevent confusion (my sister is Aislinn, she does the same).
It does amuse me that the name seems to have gained popularity but, at least where I live, mostly for girls under age 8 and primarily African-American. Maybe because of Jada Pinkett-Smith? Anyway, it REALLY throws me to overhear someone else being called my name.
As someone else mentioned, if the internet didn’t exist yet the customized-name options might be an issue. I still have a tendency to order personalized stuff for people because it feels like a novelty to me. I did love having a unique name, and in case anyone is interested I chose Pacey (boy), Brighton (girl), and Archer (boy) for my own kids.
I’m an early 1970s Lori, my middle name is MIchelle, and I have a top 10 surname which I did not change when I got married.
Lori peaked a little bit before I was born (in the mid 60s, I think?), but it’s a name firmly of my generation. I disliked it as a child because the whole combination was so common. As another commenter mentioned above, I do appreciate now that the whole shebang makes me much harder to Google unless you also happen to know another identifying piece of information about me.
But I ran into people with my exact same name all the freaking time. I went to a youth political seminar thingy in Washington DC as a high school senior. We got roommates according to alphabetical order. So, yep, my roommate had the exact same name as me. At the college where I eventually went, I got a call from the admissions office the day before the deadline to say that they were missing my rec letters. Yep, the admissions office had stuck my letters in the folder for another applicant with my exact same name. (this was long before people did that stuff online) In grad school, there were fifteen other students in the university with my same first and last name.
I’ve wished for a name with more professional gravitas – I don’t think it really passes the “Supreme Court” test – but I’ve gotten used to it now in my middle age. Sometimes I use my initials when doing things like writing to my congressperson.
When I’m introducing myself (especially on the phone), people sometimes think I’m saying “Maureen” unless I also spell my name. It’s misspelled frequently, especially as “Laurie.” I try to resist the impulse to tell such misguided souls that that is the name of a male character from Little Women, thankyouverymuch. It’s not short for Lorraine or Laura or anything else.
The one issue that my parents probably never anticipated was that I’ve spent a fair amount of my adult life in England. English people always do a double take when I introduce myself, because a “lorry” is a truck. So people think that my parents named me “truck,” basically. :)
My name is Sidney and I was born in 1988. In my age group, my name was fairly uncommon while still being recognizable. Many people tell me they love the name or remark that it is a beautiful name. I really do love my name and would never change it. Since no name is immune to challenges, here are the issues that have come up over the years:
1. Spelling – Sydney is the more common spelling for females. I was named after my father, so I am Sidney instead of Sydney. Most people who are familiar with the name will spell it with a “y” instead of an “i”. I have had several people spell my name Sydney when replying to an email, even though my name appears correctly spelled in both the email address and signature. I share similar sentiments of previous posters in that while “Sydney” is fine for other people, it is not *me*. For whatever, the spelling “Sydney” has always felt stylistically different from “Sidney” to me.
2. Confusion with other names – People will often mishear my name as Cindy. I usually try to carefully enunciate to avoid the confusion. Over the phone, I have also gotten Britney, Whitney, Stacey, Suzie, and many others. In situations where it really matters, I will usually spell out my name.
3. Associations – People often say “Oh, like Australia” or “Are you from Australia?”. This is especially annoying to me because my name and the city do not share the same spelling. I was in middle school when the “Scream” movies were released, so I would often get the “What’s your favorite scary movie?” line. I do enjoy when people get creative with their associations – one guy made a Sid Viscious reference that was pretty great.
4. Nickname – The only readily thought of nickname is Sid. Most people call me Sidney but some do call me Sid. People tend to stick with one or the other. I like the nickname but I know of one Sydney who hates being called Sid (or Syd?).
5. Rising popularity – Throughout school, I was always the only Sidney/Sydney in my class and usually in my grade. In a high school with over 2,000 students, I knew of one Sydney in my grade and one a year behind me. Now, the name is increasing in popularity, so I will sometimes meet younger children with the name or have people tell me that their granddaughter, niece, etc. has the name. None of this really bothers me but parents who like the name may want to take it into consideration.
What is with people and the email thing? I have that, too! I get emails addressed to Kylie and Kaylee all the time and Kylee is right there in the signature and the email address. It’s been made even worse because the gal who covered for my maternity leave and used my email address was Carly. So, even though the signature said “Carly LastName | for Kylee Surname on maternity leave” people got confused all the time. I just go with it and pretend I’m Carly. It’s easier, especially because I won’t speak with most of those people again.
My name is Bonnie born in 1983 and I do love my name.
Popularity- here in Australia it is not at all a popular name and I have never met another Bonnie( not entirely true I did meet a little 5 year old only a few weeks ago, when I was small I remember meeting an old lady and once there was a girl called Bonnie on the opposing soccer team and that’s it) but I believe Bonnie has been very popular in America. I would love to know if it is a date stamped name in the states? If so what era do I belong to? Is it old fashioned? Is it still used today? I loved being the only Bonnie in all of Primary School and High School and am fiercely proud of its uniqueness.
My name is not popular but everyone knows it mostly because of Bonnie and Clyde, the song My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean and Bonnie Tyler so I don’t experience much confusion and I love the old song, total eclipse of the heart is an awesome 80s Ballard and i love the romanticised notion of being associated with an outlawed bank robber!
Spelling- every now and then people will write Bonny on a birthday card ( usually an in law) but it doesn’t bother me however I do prefer the look of my spelling. When giving details over the phone I always spell my name out so that I get the correct ‘ie’ spelling but also I find my name hard to hear over the phone and can be confused with Holly this is also the same in loud places like bars or concerts etc where I will say my name and then say like Bonnie and Clyde so there is no confusion.
Pronunciation – I don’t like that some American accets make my name sound like Barney. Here in Australia it’s pronounced more like Boh- nee.
Nick names- Bon Bon! I work with kids and they all call me Bon Bon! And I love it! Children seem to love saying it and yell it out with glee when I walk through the door which is always so heart warming. My mother however hates the nickname Bon and says it is a nothing name and when I was a child I was trained to correct people. Here in Australia it is almost impossible to not have your name shortened and my mother should have considered that when naming me. One good friend calls me Bo or Bo Bo which I also love, I would use the name Bowie for a daughter if it wasn’t so close to my own. I love that Christmas crackers here are called Bon Bons and love sayings like Bon Voyage and Bon Appetite.
My middle name is Jon named after my Grandfather who passed away well before I came along. I love the family connection i think it is so important in a name and again i love the uniqueness of being given a boys name, I love it! Lots of family and friends call me Bonnie Jon or Bon the Jon or Bon Jon of course it was linked to Jon Bon Jovi in the school yard but never bothered me.
Pets- whilst I mentioned that I have never met another Bonnie I have met lots of dogs and cats called Bonnie! It is a super popular name for a dog here! It doesn’t really bother me.
Meaning- I love the meaning and origin of my name, it mean beautiful and good and it’s Scottish origin links me to my own family heritage and I love it is one of the reasons my parents chose the name. As a child I loved telling people what it meant and that it was a Scottish name. When I was a baby my parents said that when people would stop to look at the baby and ask my name people would often comment something like ” and isn’t she a wee Bonnie lass” or ” she suits her name” or ” she is very Bonnie”.
I am not very girly and never have been so I am not entirely sure that I suit my name. However I feel that because it is different it suits my personality that is a little different, zany, creative, outgoing etc. as a child I wanted to be called Heidi or Jamie and I think they would also both suit me particularly Jamie.
People often ask if it is short for something which I find quite strange! What could it be short for? I once told a teacher it was short for Bonita! It stuck and she continued to call me it even after she found out I was kidding. I did read a post not so long ago about someone wanting to find a name that Bonnie could be a nickname for and found it very interesting.
This was fun to read and contribute to thanks!
I have a friend named Bonnie, short for Bonita. Born in the US in the mid-fifties. No one ever calls her Bonita.
Bonnie is a little bit dated in the US, but in the way that it seems ready for revival. It has a ‘country’ feel here– I think because one of the only famous people by the name is a pop/country music star from the 1990s, Bonnie Raitt. I can’t think of any other famous Bonnie’s off the top of my head (besides Bonnie and Clyde, of course). Anyone else?
Of course Bonnie Raitt, I don’t know any of her music but I know what she looks like and that she is a country singer, I can see how that would make my name have a country feel. Thank you
I think the name Bonnie is ready for a revival too! I went to school with a Bonnie (we were both early ’80s babies) and I associate it with the song from the musical, Brigadoon (“Go home to bonny Jean”). It would be adorable on a baby!
I love that movie, but the hit-or-miss pronunciation drives me nuts!
I love how much you love your name! I happen to love Bonnie, too– I think it’s just a really nice name. In case you’re interested, here’s what the Baby Name Wizard said about it: “Bonnie is taken from the Scottish word meaning “pretty.” The name’s good feelings and cutie-pie style made it a long time favorite. That kind of genial style is out right now, and the name has quietly drifted off the radar. It’s not trendy, but it’s likable.” It’s a midcentury name that peaked at #34 in 1942 an is now #1117. :)
I’m a Kimberley from the late ’60’s and I was the only one throughout primary school and the only one of two in high school here in Australia. There were about 1,000 students, and we were never in the same class, so it was never an issue.
I have never really had any problems with people getting my name wrong but, as I go by Kim 99% of the time that makes things easier, I do sometimes get called Lynn or the spelling Kym. My family calls me Kimmo and my sister always calls me Kimmy. When I do have to give my full name it is quite often spelled without the second ‘e’, as in Kimberly and I have only ever met one other Kimberley.
I don’t mind my name at all, although I’ve never really thought about it too much, but I do prefer my nn Kim. My middle name is Jane, after my great-grandmother, which I really like and my Mum did call me Kimmy-Jane sometimes when I was young.
Now you’ve met two. :-)
I’m a Kim, pretty exclusively, which saves me from having to say l-E-y all the time. Kim was relatively popular as a kid, and it does feel a bit dated. No biggie. My grandfather still calls me Kimmie, as does my husband every now and again. But Kim suits me just fine, and I like having a formal name for fancy.
The weird thing is, my mom spelled my name with the extra e without ever knowing about the town Kimberley, then named my brother Scot with one t, so both of us had spelling issues. His are far worse.
To my ear, Aussies say my name with a syllable and a half, like Ki-im. I liked it.
Oh, and I love my middle name, Marie. It’s terribly common, but it’s a blend of my great grandmothers Maria and Mary. My mom is Mexican -American, my dad Anglo-Celtic. I loved that my middle name was so symbolic of me.
So I did that with my daughter’s middle name: Elspeth, a blend of Estelle and Betty. But I don’t think either of them felt honored. If I’d had a boy, his MN would have been Roderick, for Robert and Richard. Instead, my second daughter is Robin for Robert. I still think the idea is cool.
I’m a mid 80s Kimberley. I didn’t meet another Kimberly (spelled like that) until high school and I didn’t meet one with the same spelling until college. I think we were both shocked to actually meet someone with the same spelling. But then, for a couple of months I worked with 2 others! (both spelled the other way, though)
I do have trouble with other people spelling it, even though I think it looks better with the extra e in it. I have to really emphasize that second e though, because otherwise people will miss it. Or sometimes, they’ll put it in the wrong spot. This annoys me less than it did and now it’s a little funny to see what people can come up with!
My name has served me well, and it’s pretty enough, but I don’t feel like I suit it. I hate being called Kimmy (she was the annoying neighbor on the show Full House and we were about the same age…) and I’m ambivalent to Kim. I’ve been toying around with going by an unintuitive nickname, but I haven’t pulled the trigger on that yet. Maybe when I get to another life junction, (when it’s easier to make a change like that) I will.
My name is Margaret and I was born in 1972. I feel I need to add that because so many of the Margaret’s I’ve met have been much older.
MAIN ISSUES
I’ve never been very fond of my name for two main reasons:
1. Having an out-of-date unpopular name more often used for previous generations. Although I’ve always known other Margarets, I’ve only ever met one that is younger and she goes exclusively by a non-standard nickname so you would never know her real name was Margaret unless she told you.
2. I just don’t like the sound of it. Too many heavy consonants.
MINOR ISSUES
1. Nicknames. People have always called me by nicknames (of their choosing) whether I like it or not. I used to hate it as a kid but now I’m so used to it that I don’t really care, they can call me what they want. On the one hand it’s good that my name has so many nicknames, the problem is that I just don’t like any of them (or they don’t feel like me – I am just not a Daisy or a Peggy for example). The only nickname I actually like is Meg, and this is what my friends call me because they’re the only people who ever bothered to ask me what I prefer. I’m neutral towards Marg and this is the one I most often get called by people. I have been called Marg, Margie, Margo, Maggie, Mags, Mog, Mogget, Meg, Megz and Marmite. I also spent an entire year being called Maggot by everyone including my teacher (this also evolved into Faggot which thankfully didn’t catch on and I wasn’t old enough to know the meaning anyway!)
2. Spelling. This is not as bad an issue as it used to be when I was growing up. Kids more often spell it wrong than adults, and in this age of electronic communication, people usually have my name sitting right in front of them and don’t have to ask how it is spelled. However over the years I have been Margret, Margrit, Magret, Magrit, Margert, Mageret, etc.
NON ISSUES
1. Popularity – even though there has pretty much always been one other Margaret in the school I’ve gone to or place I’ve worked, I’ve not usually been in the same class/team/department as them. And even when I’ve had to go by Margaret Initial or Margaret LastName, I don’t mind.
2. People never mispronounce it when they see it written down (unlike a previous commenter I DO pronounce it Marg-rit).
3. People never mishear or misunderstand when I say it (although I’ve occasionally been called Monica or Brownyn by people for some strange reason).
4. I like that it is not trendy but not unusual either.
There was a brief period of time when I was a kid that some tv show featured the saying “kiss my grits” or something like that, so I heard “kiss mar-gret” from the other kids a lot. But luckily that faded away pretty quickly.
My name is Janel and I was born in the mid 80’s. I have 3 older brothers who all have common names. My mom was convinced I was going to be a boy too. My dad always liked the name Janelle but thought it was too long with our last name. While my mom was pregnant, they went to Disney where they had a waitress named Janel. My middle name is Marie, my great grandmother’s first name and my grandma’s middle name. That’s the short story of how I got my name.
The only issue I have ever had with my name has been the spelling. I do not dislike it. It often gets spelled Janelle or people think I forgot to cross my t and my name is Janet.
After reading everyone else’s posts that seems to be a common issue, even for people who’s names I thought were common. So, maybe spelling isn’t an issue at all since there are so many variations and ways to spell names everyone ends up needing to spell it out.
I’ve enjoyed reading all these! I am Aubrey, born in 1980. At the time it was a very uncommon name. I never knew anyone with the name growing up and would very, very rarely run into people with the same name. I remember once when my family was skiing and at lunch we sat near a family with a girl named Aubrey – I was confused because I kept hearing someone say my name but not be talking to me! We recently moved cross country and at our new church there is an 11 year old with my same first and middle names. That is definitely a first.
I love my name now, although growing up there were a few issues. The biggest at the time was that everyone thought my name was Audrey, which was more common so I got called that often. I still sometimes get called Audrey and I never let it bother me. I suspect now that Aubrey is much more common (it’s in the top 20 for 2012 – boo!) this will probably happen less.
No one knows how to spell it so I always have to spell my name. I also had an unusual maiden name that required spelling. As someone mentioned previously, if you google my first name and maiden name or my married name (also sort of rare) it is very easy to find me. My married name is a very common word in the English language so I thought I wouldn’t have to spell it before I got married but since it’s such an uncommon surname I still have to spell it. I was mostly just called Aubrey, but occasionally got called “aubs” or in college “aub-aubs” but no nicknames ever really stuck which was fine with me.
My mom wanted to name me Rebekah, which I still like and there were times when I wished that were my name when I was little. As other people have mentioned I never could find personalized cups/keychains/knicknacks with my name, which really is small in the grand scheme of things. But I love the story of how I got my name – My dad was actually stationed in Turkey while my mom was pregnant and heard this song (by the band Bread) called “Aubrey” and loved the song and so pestered my mom to name me Aubrey instead. He wasn’t able to be there when I was born so she thought he should get to pick the name. I have a family middle name that I share with my mom, grandma, and also my dad’s sister and I love having that connection with them. I used the same middle for my daughter.
Even though I disliked having an unusual name when I was young (like early elementary school), by the time I was in middle school even I really liked it.
I’m an Audrey, and I felt the same way about my name’s popularity. In elementary school, I wished I didn’t have such an uncommon name; I didn’t like that my name was so different from all the Jennifers and Sarahs. But as I grew up, I came to love the uniqueness of my name, and I really liked knowing that I was named after a good family friend. The family connection in my name, combined with the uniqueness, made it a name that I have been proud to have since I was old enough to understand it.
Incidentally, I was mistakenly called Aubrey growing up. Guess it’s inevitable when two names are so similar.
Also, I continue to be amazed at how many people misspell my name to this day. It seems so simple to me, and yet, it’s misspelled all the damn time.
I was named Sheila in North America in the mid-1980s. While I’ve made my peace with it, as a child and teen I really hated that my name had been used primarily for my parents’ generation. I felt really alienated from the Jennifers, Sarahs, Lauras, etc. In retrospect I’m glad I didn’t have any of the really popular names, but I wish my parents had chosen something that wasn’t time-stamped. People sometimes have mentioned that they expected someone older when they meet me for the first time, which makes sense and doesn’t especially bother me.
Other issues: as others have experienced, the spelling screwups have long made me weep for humanity. People have played fast and loose with the ‘e’ and ‘i’; added a silent ‘h’ and sometimes also ‘g’ – unless I spell it out, I have no confidence that someone else will spell it correctly (and they often make mistakes even when I do). By far the most frustrating is when people mix up the ‘i’ and the ‘l’ – Shelia. It happens much more frequently than a person might think, and the fact that that mistake alters the sound of the name seems irrelevant to many people. Sometimes it is mispronounced as “Shayla” and “Shiloh”, too, but that doesn’t really bother me.
It doesn’t lend itself well to any nicknames, which as a kid I resented. I don’t really mind now.
I have never been to Australia but I understand that ‘sheila’ is slang for ‘woman’ there – like ‘chick’ if I understand correctly. I don’t love that about, it but since I’ve never been there it doesn’t trouble me a whole lot.
Yes it does have that meaning here in Australia. I think it came about from Sheila being a popular name here in Australia and also because “she” is in the name, we have a lot of clever slang like this stemming from british style humour and rhyming slang. It is a very colloquial term, used more by older generations or by someone pretending to be very stereotypically Australian for humorous purposes. If you were creating a caricature of an Australian couple their names would be Sheila and Bruce. In fact Bruce can kind of be used like Sheila if used collectively, for example if someone was adressing a crowd of people with instructions might for humorous purposes say ” all the Sheila’s will do this and all the Bruce’s will do that”. Sheila is also more of a country Australian saying.
Also wanted to ad that despite its meaning here in Oz being a noun rather than a name these days people here would love it! You would be instantly pronounced honorary Aussie just because of your name and welcomed warmly. Also wanted to ad that the name Sheila actually has a lovely sound to it and that perhaps it’s due for a comeback stateside.
I don’t like how common my name is. I don’t like how dated it is.
I mainly don’t like how common it is.
I don’t like the nickname Jen.
I don’t like knowing that my mother also considered naming me Grace, and then gave it to me as a middle name, and then realized how common Jennifer was, and then actually CALLED me Grace for the first good bit of my life, but not enough for me to make an official switch-over without feeling pretentious and weird about it.
I DO like that my mom loves the name and thinks it’s beautiful and that’s why she picked it.
I like that it means ‘white wave’.
I like the flow with my last name, and with my first and middle.
I still hate how common it is though. It’s made me very sensitive to name popularity.
My name is Lucy and I adore my name! I was born in 1981 when it was very uncommon. It is now very common, but growing up I didn’t know any Lucy’s until high school, and then only one and she was also around my age. I assume growing up people felt my name was old-fashioned, but I was named after my dad’s grandmother and my parents really made me feel like I was awesome for having her name, so I really felt that my name was great! I can’t imagine being named anything different, especially something especially common or popular.
The good thing about my name growing up is that though it wasn’t common, most people knew how to spell it. A lot of people ask me if it is short for another name–like Lucille or Lucinda and growing up I was glad it was not. I don’t especially care for the longer versions of my name.
A bully who lived around the corner from me occasionally called me Lucifer, which wasn’t awesome, but he only lived there for a few years and no one ever did that again fortunately. Other than my name did not lend to much teasing.
I like all of my nicknames growing up– Luc (pronounced “loose”), Lucy Lou, and Lou. Basically, I think my name has been a perfect name for me and would recommend it to anyone considering it! :)
Thanks for chiming in! I’m the mom of a Lucy, and it’s always nice to hear good things about her name.
I’m a Lucy from the UK born in the mid 80’s and I love my name as well!
When I was growing up I was the only Lucy in my primary school class which I loved. Especially because we had three Lisa’s, Gemma’s and Laura’s. I really appreciated just going by Lucy. In high school I was one of two Lucy’s out of 180 but never shared any classes with her so it didn’t concern me at all.
I know it’s much more popular now, both here and in the states, but I still love the sound of the name, the meaning (light) and I think it sounds cute yelled across a playground but also grown up enough for an adult. I love hearing about and meeting baby Lucy’s.
I never felt that it was an old fashioned name but then I was a pretty confident kid so maybe I just ignored that. I don’t remember being teased for it at all.
Pretty much everyone knows how to spell it. Very occasionally people will ask if it ends in an ie. My sister in law lived in a French speaking country for a few years and will get confused sometimes because that’s how it was spelled there.
My parents wanted a nickname proof name and this is mostly the case. My very close friends from high school call me Luce (or even Bruce!) but nobody else. Growing up teachers would call me Lucy Lou or Juicy Lucy but I think they were meant affectionately. A colleague calls me Lucy Lou when she’s in a very good mood or I’ve helped her out with something. The same SIL as above calls me Lou Lou occasionally. But my family, husband and nearly all of my friends just use Lucy.
I feel like my name suits me and I am really happy to have it. I asked my husband if he felt that way about his name and he said it had never really occurred to him. So either I over think things or my name really was meant for me!
I’m a Meredith from the mid 80s. Most of the issues I’ve had with my name are pretty minor. My main complaint is that no one can seem to spell it. Usually I get Merideth or Meridith but pretty much no one gets it on the first try. It’s not a super popular name but it is a name that most people have heard before but most have never really met another Meredith. Aside from one class in college where there were 4 of us, (it was totally a fluke and has never happened again) I’ve pretty much been the only one.
I do wish it had more options for nicknames. I am just NOT a “Meri” and when it comes up in discussions with people who know me it usually makes them laugh to think of me as “Meri.” My mother always hated the nickname so it was never really an option. She was actually the one who decided that I’d be Auntie Meddy with my niece and nephew. My family nicknames from childhood have absolutely no connection to my name. I’ve been called Mer by a few people and I went by Mei Mei in college. A friend tried to use Merridy as a nickname for a while but it’s just as many syllables so it was kind of ridiculous.
I was never really teased for Meredith growing up. I had more issues with my middle and last names. I’ve grown to love my middle name, as I was named after one of my great-grandmothers but it was tough to appreciate in elementary school when combined with my awkward meaning last name.
I hated that I could never find my name on anything when both of my sisters could so it was always a nice surprise when I did and I feel like my mom made a special point to search for my name because of that.
The only other name I’ve been mistaken for is Erica, which totally confuses me as to how. It is kind of funny that the other Meredith that commented gets Marilyn because that’s my grandmother’s name.
One thing that I’ve always loved about my name is the meaning and origin. It seems to be completely coincidental how well it fits me because, as far as I know, my mother never knew the meaning (keeper of the sea) before I started becoming interested in names. I’m totally a water baby. I was born in the Ocean State and have always loved and been fascinated by the ocean. I was born under a zodiac water sign too. It has also always amused me that I call myself a “Celtic Mutt” when it comes to nationality because I’m half Irish and half English/Scottish and my parents managed to pick a Welsh name to round it all out.
my name is Ash. I love it, despite several issues.
Issue #1: Ash really is my full, legal, birth name. Almost every person I have ever met has assumed it to be short for Ashley. This is understandable, I was born in 1984. What is less understandable than the initial assumptions is that a large number of people never get past the idea that my name really must actually be Ashley. Probably because of this, I despise the name Ashley. I also don’t think I seem at all like an Ashley.
Issue #2: Over the past few years Ash has emerged as a boys name. Many little boy Ashes are really Ashers or Ashtons but some really are “just” Ash. When people realize my name really is just “Ash” they often bring up a male character named Ash. Older people mention the Bruce Campbell character in the Evil Dead movies (Thought, his name actually was Ashley, Ash was just a nickname). Younger people mention Ash Kethcum (sp?) form Pokemon. In the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie, Mr. and Mrs. Fox’s son is named Ash. I sometimes wish my name was more feminine.
Issue #3: People don’t know how to spell it. It seems like it should be easy, but I almost always have to spell it out for people. When people guess the spelling they usually tack and e on the end.
I’m really surprised I’m the first Heather to comment! I was born in the 80’s, no surprise there, and while I don’t hate my name, I don’t feel as though it’s a huge part of my identity either. It’s pretty neutral. I have no great attachment to it because it was common around the time I was growing up. I do take issue with the fact that it sort of screams “eighties” though.
Notable Pros:
1. Common enough to avoid confusion. Everyone knows a Heather and no one ever has to ask me to repeat or spell it. There is no widely used alternative spelling or pronunciation.
2. No natural nicknames means no unwanted nicknames that people assume are ok.
3. A flower name.
Notable Cons:
1. OH so popular at one point in time, and easily dated.
2. No natural nicknames also means no fun alter-egos. I was so jealous of the flexibility of other names, especially as a teenager.
3. The wide assumption that Heather is a “mean girl” name, or an ex-girlfriend name (thanks Hollywood). This has been my biggest pet-peeve about the name Heather!
Honestly, I would recommend it to another generation. It’s in essence a lovely name! Maybe it will resurface by 2050 ;)
I am Beth–just Beth! No, not Elizabeth. And not Bethany, either. Just Beth. It appears my name was fairly popular in the decade I was born (70s), but it doesn’t appear in the top 1000 anymore. I’ve rarely met anyone with my name, especially someone who doesn’t have a longer name that Beth is the nickname for.
I haven’t given my name a lot of thought in recent years, but I do find it quite boring. I used to wish so much my mom had given me a longer, more interesting name. And my middle name, Ellen, isn’t much better. I love nicknames, but there’s not a whole lot you can do with Beth, aside from “B”, which I do get called by my family and husband. Sometimes “Bellen”, but not often, thankfully. I do get called “Bethany” from time to time, which I answer to quite happily.
I suppose it’s not surprising that I’ve given two of my three daughters longer names (Naomi and Mattea) that lend themselves quite well to nicknames. My other daughter, Cate, has a longer middle name (Meredith), that helps out in that category as well.
If I’m speaking to someone on the phone and have to tell them my name, I’m always a little anxious; people often hear “Bev” or “Jess”.
Strangest of all, in my opinion…people often call me by my daughter Cate’s name. I don’t know if it’s simply because they are both one syllable names, but it’s happened often enough that had I known it would occur, I would probably have seriously considered another name for her.
Oh, and I should say also that both my maiden name and married name are of the long and must-be-spelled variety, so a simpler first name isn’t such a bad thing!
This is fascinating – my mother’s name (born in the 50s) is Beth (just Beth) Ellen!
200+ replies and no other Angelas? My goodness.
I was born in 1975 in Quebec, and a big reason my parents chose the name Angela was because it sounded similar in French and English. Ditto for my brother Nicholas. We ended up moving to California when I was 4 so the language thing became a nonissue but I kind of love the story.
I was a bit meh on my name as a kid (I wanted to be KATHERINE so badly) but now I love it. It is uncommon enough that I rarely meet other Angelas (interesting, because it was #7 in the mid-70s) but common enough that most people know how to pronounce and spell it. People do seem to have a hard time REMEMBERING it, though. Maybe I’m just not a memorable person. :) A lot of people think it should be Andrea, and in fact in grad school I lived with an Andrea, which led to some really amusing phone calls.
Oh, and I am emphatically NOT an Angie, and have to disabuse people of that notion on a regular basis, but I think that’s true of anyone with a commonly-nicknamed name.
I think Angela is becoming LESS popular. It doesn’t seem to fit with other categories of names (it’s not old-fashioned, or whatever) so I’ll be curious to see if it enjoys a resurgence at some point.
I am an Elizabeth, born in 1971, but have always been called Betsy. I’m not sure my parents have ever once called me Elizabeth, actually. While Elizabeth has always been common, I have met very few women named Betsy in my life. As a child, I hated that my name was uncommon (no personalized pencils—the horror!), and it seemed a little too cutesy. I remember trying out other nicknames, like Beth and Eliza, but always came back to Betsy. I toyed with the idea of being just Elizabeth when I started college, but never did. As an adult, I appreciate that it’s uncommon. I’m often the only Betsy that people know, so it’s memorable. I think Betsy (as a given name) peaked in the 1950’s, which sounds about right. I don’t feel like my name is dated, though, since it was never really all that common. I do think it’s a good fit for my personality.
I get annoyed when people see Elizabeth and assume I’m another nickname without asking first. People usually assume Liz, and then I have to do the mental math to figure out whether it’s worth the effort to correct them or not. I also get Becky a lot, which I hate because I have a bad childhood connotation with the name Becky. One time at a deli I got Mitzi. Betsy is constantly misspelled, which is a hassle. I get Betsey or Betsie sometimes, but it’s most often Besty. BESTY. That’s not even a name! I get it everywhere from Starbucks to company-wide emails. Now I’m just pleasantly surprised when people DO spell it right.
As a child, the worst teasing I got about my name was being called Betsy Wetsy, after the old doll that peed herself. I’m not sure people even know what that doll is anymore.
Interestingly, I named one of my daughters a classic name with an uncommon cutesy nickname. I guess my experience with Elizabeth/Betsy wasn’t so scarring that I didn’t want to pass that on to her.
Hi! I think I’m the first Leah. Overall I love my name, the length, the sound, and to me it has just the right amount of popularity, I never had another Leah in my class until high school which was a large high school so I always felt unique without being strange.
My only issues with it are more often than you would think, when people see it written they call me ‘Lee’. I understand getting ‘lay-uh’ but not plain lee or Leigh.
I get associations with Princess Leia which are fine, but again, not my name. There are no great nick names, my dad sometimes went with Leo and I affectionately got called Leah – peah but it didn’t bother me.
I was a little bothered when I learned the meaning ‘full of woe’ but didn’t care too much since no one knows that. In the bible Leah and Rachel are sisters and both marry Jacob. He really wants Rachel but gets ‘tricked’ into Leah. I have a couple of very close friends named Rachel and guess who I married?? Yep, Jake :)
All in all it’s a GREAT name.
Oh I have loved reading all the comments for this! What struck me is how different naming trends are in the UK, where I’m from. It is unusual to spell a name to make it ‘different’ or ‘unique’, and names like Charlotte and Henry are classics that have been in the top 20 for years, rather than being newly fashionable. I’m a 1989 Louise going by my middle name and I have only met one person my age with the same name- the others are 2 colleagues’ teenage daughters, and one of my parents’ colleagues. It’s only once I met someone my age this year in my book group who shared my name (and realised how much I disliked that) that I learnt to appreciate my name. It’s easy to spell (I grew up in the UK), and as I now live in France it works perfectly.
I sometimes get called Louisa, which I really dislike and I will always correct people on. Growing up people would shorten my name to ‘Lou’ to tease me, which means toilet in the UK so I really hated that! It wasn’t until a few years ago that some good friends shortened it to Lou as a nice nickname that I came to like it.
I actually disliked my name so much growing up (due to the whiny sound I thought it sounded like) that I wrote to this blog a couple of months back, thinking of changing it and using my first name, Emily. However later that week at church I met 3 people with the name Emily, all my age (it was a very common name in the late 80s/early 90s) and I realised how much I appreciated having an unusual but still well-known name and that I would stick with using it. Once I saw the positive points of it I’ve actually come to really like it, and I love that living in France it’s a known name (albeit an old-fashioned one).
Since all the commentators are girls and not currently-popular names, I asked my husband Gunnar to answer in my stead, particularly since Gunnar is an up-and-comer on the charts just now.
Potential Issues with the name Gunnar (Answered by my husband)
1. Spelling
For any official document, I make sure to specify that it’s -ar, otherwise I don’t really care. It has maybe cost me an hour of my life correcting people. No big deal
2. “Violent”
People make jokes like “Oh Gunnar bang bang haha” and I just “Hmmm” and move on. On a scale of 1 to 10 it bothers me like 0.5
3. Uniqueness
I’ve never met another Gunnar outside of my family. It’s not a big deal. Lately more people are saying “oh my so and so cousin has a baby named Gunnar!” But again, no issue. I liked having a unique name.
4. Legacy (Gunnar III)
I am proud of being III and specify III at the end of my last name on every official document. It is funny to hear computer automated voices try and pronounce it as “eeee.” The only confusion with my father is that AARP and funeral homes send me pamphlets a lot. I have not had any other issues, but I am very diligent about making myself III and consider it a vital part of my name.
I’m an early ’70s Paige. Issues:
Popularity: it didn’t seem popular at all, although I knew a handful growing up in a big city in Texas. I liked having a not-common name then & still do; I love the sense of sorority I feel when I meet other Paige’s. It seems to be a bit more popular now, & there are a few in my kids’ schools.
Spelling: I’ve never met anyone spelled Page, yet I feel compelled to introduce myself as “Paige, like a page in a book, but spelled with an ‘I.” If the person actually understands me, they usually spell it right. Unfortunately, it’s often misheard as Kate, & a surprising # of times in my life as Peg.
Overall, I like having a less-common name, & continued that with my own kids. But, I don’t love the name Paige. I’ve always felt it was choppy & very unromantic (I can’t imagine my Tall Dark Handsome whispering rimantically, “My darling…Paige”). I’ve always wanted a name ending in an -ah sound, like Shenandoah, my favorite girls’ name, which we used as a middle name for our daughter.
A bigger issue is the rest of my name; my whole name is Jennifer Lara Paige LastName. OK:
1. Having 2 middle names is dumb; you just can’t use them both on most forms. I dropped Lara starting in Kindigarten.
2. Using your middle name as your first name is also dumb, & actually quite a bit complicating. The only bright spot is I can instantly tell if a someone really knows me or not by which first name they use. But really that us a tiny benefit compared to the myriad complications it causes.
3. First name = Jennifer in the 70’s = essentially unusable first name.
4. Spelling Lara an unusual way, so that any time it does come up, I have to tell the story if why it’s spelled that way (family name).
Parents-to-be, please call your child by their first name!!
I am a Ruth, born in the mid-80s. I have only ever met maybe two or three other Ruths my own age. I hear “that’s my grandma’s name!” or sometimes “that’s my middle name!” a lot. I actually have recently become friends with another Ruth in my same general age range, and it’s a totally new and bizarre experience for both of us!
What I like about my name: its uncommonness and old-fashionedness, but I didn’t always feel that way. My name feels classic and unique and sophisticated, and now that so many vintage names have come back into style I think Ruth has a new freshness. As a kid, though, I was definitely NOT into my name. I was a bookish, not especially popular or social kid, so I felt like my unusual name highlighted my “weirdness.” I desperately wished my name were Katie (there were 4 Katies in my class — in retrospect it was obviously less about that name and more a metaphor for wanting to fit in!). I think the lesson for parents here is not to be afraid of an unusual name, but to be prepared for their kid to have to grow into it a bit — being different is temporarily hard on kids, but hopefully will be a great asset to an adult.
What I don’t like: it’s so unusual for someone my age that sometimes it’s like people don’t even hear it. I get called Rachel or Rebecca all. the. time. Which is baffling — it’s like people hear the letter R and perceive me as young and vaguely Jewish and then just stop listening! Mostly a non-issue though. The bigger problem is actually my last name, which is much, much more common than Ruth as a first name for people my age, so I get called by my last name or referred to as [last name] Ruth way too often for my liking (like, on tax forms, airplane tickets, voter registration — places where it’s really problematic!). I would call this a moderate issue, but it’s not the fault of the name itself. Another issue is that I now live abroad, and my name is hard to pronounce in any language other than English (at least without such a different pronunciation that it doesn’t even register as my own name). This is a very mild issue.
In general I think the good of my name outweighs the bad. I definitely plan to give my own children unusual names too. My one regret is that I feel like I can’t use my last name as part of my kids’ names, since, as I mentioned, it’s a popular girls’ name from the ’80s, so I feel like it sort of sends the wrong message.
I just named my daughter Ruth Pe@rl. :) I think it’s a beautiful name and I am glad you like it.
mid 80’s, Jayna
Is your name common/uncommon?
On the uncommon side, I guess. As an adult, having lived in three different cities, I haven’t met another person with my name.
My mom got the name from her friend who had named her daughter Jayna, but the daughter was at least 10 years older than me, so no one was worried about us sharing a name.
Growing up I knew of two other girls with the same name (not sure how they spelled it). They were in middle school and high school when I was in grade school, and in different school systems.
Time-stamped, either to your own generation or to the “wrong” generation?
Not that I know of, if so it was never an issue.
Hard to spell/pronounce? Easily confused with other names?
Not hard to spell or pronounce, but people stumble over both. I’ve always had to spell my first and last name (maiden name and married name). I don’t know what it’s like to not have to do it, so I don’t find it annoying. People usually mess up the spelling: Janya or Jana.
Most people confuse my name with Janna (I actually don’t know how to spell it – the first syllable rhymes with “can”), Jenna, or Dana (long ‘a’ sound). I usually say “Like Dana, but with a J” or more awkwardly “Like Jane, but with an… ‘uh’ at the end”
Like someone mentioned above, I usually give waiting lists and coffee shops “Jane” so I don’t have to deal with the confusion.
Does it rhyme with or sound like something awkward? Were you teased about it as a child?
No. Eventually in high school, my good guy friends came up with putting a “Va” in front of my name to make it sound like a part of female anatomy. Then and now, I found/find it funny, but I might have felt differently if the name calling hadn’t been in good humor. I think this association is one not many would make – when I tell people about it they always say they hadn’t thought of it before. Not an issue, as far as I’m concerned.
Is it a good/poor fit with your personality?
I’ve never thought of this before. I think it’s a good fit.
Do you have to fight off a nickname you don’t like?
I wanted to have a nickname growing up, and I was upset that my name didn’t lend itself to any. A few close friends call me Jane or Janie, and my husband has a thousand, adding syllables to my name. So I’m happy now.
Cool things I like about my name:
I was a huge Star Wars fan in my early teens, so when reading the fan fiction, I was super excited to find out that Hans Solo and Princess Leia had twins that they named Jacen and Jaina. Different spelling, but still!
Also, I just recently found out that there is an extraterrestrial twin brother and sister superhero pair, Zan and Jayna – the Wonder Twins. It’s been fun to read about them on Wikipedia.
I like not having to share my name.
Dislikes:
I like the names Jane (it really seems different than my name) and Juna, but they’re too similar to mine to use for possible future children.
Can’t think of anything else.
I’m an early 70s Genevieve.
It’s a lot more common in little girls now, but at the time I was the only person I knew with that name (other than my grandmother).
Pros:
I adored my grandmother and loved being named after her.
Nickname options: I was “Genny” in elementary school when all the Jennifers were around — which made it feel more common than it actually was since we had “the same” nickname. And then, when I was ready to have a more unique name, I switched over to the full name.
People frequently comment on how “pretty” the name is — and I agree!
I rarely have to give my last name when identifying myself to someone who I already know, even slightly.
I can always tell if the caller is someone we actually know — if they ask to speak to “Genevra”, I tell them there’s no one here by that name….
Cons:
No one can spell it. Even now.
Most people can’t pronounce it. And their attempts are so far off, I wonder about their literacy. I most often get Guinevere (where do you see an “r”?) or Geneva (did you stop reading after the 5th letter?). My favorite was when the high school principal announced to the school that I had won some award, but called me “Genise.” No one knew who he was talking about.
No personalized pencils for me. :)
Nicknames:
As said above, I went by Genny for most of elementary school. This was sometimes a challenge, because people thought it was short for Jennifer and would spell it with a J. And if I said “Genny-with-a-G”, they would spell it with an i (Ginny). I had one person argue with me that the name could only be spelled Jenny or Ginny and, if I wanted it to start with a G, I had to take the i. (This was in the early 80s–before creative spellings of names was popular.) My family calls me “Gen”, but mostly I’m full-name Genevieve. I’m now aware of other Genevieves who go by “Eve”, “Vee-vee” or even “Ne-Ne”, but none of those have ever come up for me.
Issues with having an uncommon name?
I always felt that Genevieve hits a good spot on the “common” spectrum. Generally, people have heard it (even if they can’t spell it) and reactions are generally positive. (So, it’s not “weird”, it’s “unusual” or “classic”.) Although it was “old-fashioned” at the time I was named, it had never been common enough to be an “old lady” name. I was in middle school before I met another girl my age with the same name; I thought that was super exciting (“Really? You’re Genevieve! I’ve never met another Genevieve!”), and she either didn’t think it was a big deal or was disturbed at the idea of sharing her name with this nut. I do have to spell it a lot and when we eat out, we give my husband’s name instead of mine or I’ll use “Gen” and just let them spell it with a J.
Interestingly, my married surname also has a lot of e’s and a v, so when I’m spelling both I usually comment that I’m “all e’s and v’s!”
I started reading all the comments but there are so MANY. I am a Jodie and yes it dates me.
Things I hate: The Spelling issue. While I rarely care how you spell it, if you are say calling my name for a reservation, you had BETTER spell it correctly if you are sending me an e-mail or wishing me a happy birthday on facebook. For real–my cousin spelled it Jody wishing me a happy birthday. I was like Thanks TAMMY (she goes by Tami)
Things that might have been an issue that aren’t:
It rhymes with grodie which was a slang term in the 80s but I don’t think anyone ever called me grodie Jodie.
No nicknames. I got over this quick. My husband calls me Jodes sometimes.
My name is Michellinda, pronounced mee-shuh-LEEN-da. I don’t mind the sound of it, but it is so long and unusual that no one can pronounce it by looking at it. Every doctor’s appointment I hear new interpretations such as Michael-Linda, Mitchell-Linda, and mick-a-Linda. I usually go by my childhood nickname Misha, which I prefer. It’s still pretty unusual, and fairly unisex. People always ask me about my ethnic heritage, though…I guess in their minds “regular” white American girls wouldn’t have such an odd name. Oh yeah, I was born in the early 90’s to a Mary and a Drury.
My name is Jaclyn, which is pretty popular for my time period (born mid-1980s). I love the spelling, and that it’s not as fussy as Jacqueline (though I think that spelling is pretty, too).
My biggest issue is my nickname, Jacy (pronounced like Jackie). Always, always, always mispronounced or misspelled. Personally, I love my spelling because it’s softer and feels more feminine than the hard k-i-e, but people always call me “Jaycee”. I’ve gotten used to correcting people, so it’s not too big a deal anymore, unless I have to correct the same person over and over. Also, people constantly misspell — when they remember it’s not “Jackie”, they write “Jacky” or “Jaci” more often than “Jacy”.
My only other issue is that sometimes I wish it had a softer or sexier sound. Not much appealing about “ack”. I’ve only been called “Jack” by three people — my dad (so it’s a sweet nickname) and two girls at different stages in my life who were super friendly, but not very close to me. Nonissue.
That said, I love having a more formal name for acquaintances or formal occasions and a nickname for friends and family.
We share a name, but different spellings!
My name is Jacquelyn, and I absolutely love my name. I tend to go by my full name in formal, online and professional situations, and among family and closest friends I go by Jacqui (pronounced “Jackie”). Only my parents, sisters, and husband call me Jac (“Jack”) on occasion.
Interesting side story: my mother saw the name “Jacqui” in a novel she was reading when she was pregnant with me but did not realize it was “Jackie” until the last page. She loved it and decided to name me “Jacquelyn” so she would use the “Jacqui” spelling. We pronounce my full name with a soft “q” instead of the harsher “k” sound: jah-QWAH-lynn, but that is such a subtle difference most people don’t notice it.
I have also always loved how my first and middle names flow together whether pronounced the American or French way: Jacquelyn Jean-Marie. My middle name is an honor name for my mom’s aunt, Jean Marie, who died in a tragic car accident with her husband when my mom was a child. As a creative individual, I have always felt that my maiden name was a nice fit for an author: Jacquelyn Jean-Marie Fisher or J.J.M. Fisher. After I married earlier this year, I have gotten countless compliments from co-workers that my married name has a glamorous, old movie-star quality to it: Jacquelyn Van Sant.
The only issues that I have come across with my name are:
1. I had to come to terms (as annoying as it is at times) that many people will NEVER spell my name (full name OR nickname) correctly no matter how many times they see it in writing or have been corrected. Most of the time I just shrug it off, but when it happens at work even though my name is in 3 or 4 places in my work emails, then I start getting annoyed. A dozen or so times, I can forgive, but when my name is written out in EVERY email in MULTIPLE places and we communicate back and forth on a DAILY basis, the incorrect spelling has moved into the “now you are being just plain rude/insulting” category.
2. Since I love the sound of my full name and I prefer to use it in most situations (only family and closest friends call me Jacqui), it is a little annoying when strangers, co-workers, etc. automatically go for the shortened “Jackie” even after I introduce myself as “Jacquelyn”. However, that is probably something many people face who prefer to go by their long names. I tell people it doesn’t matter to me, laugh and smile, but I’ll drop not-too-subtle hints that they should go back to using “Jacquelyn”. (Like signing all of my work emails “Jacquelyn”.) The majority of people get the hint pretty quickly and go back to addressing me as Jacquelyn.
So this is a crazy late response to a really old post, so I highly doubt anyone will see it. But I want to play!
My name is Sandy. It’s not short for Sandra or Cassandra or Alexandra. I was born in 1988, when Sandra was already in the mom-grandmother range, and I always felt like my parents messed up when naming me.
Most people assume my name is short for Sandra, but it’s just Sandy. Like the beach. I normally introduce myself with the beach connection, to give it some charm, but to me, it seems charmless. I hated that it sounded like a nickname but I didn’t get that nickname. I didn’t want the name Sandra, but it was better than my excuse for Sandra. Cassandra is a nice name, but it’s also not mine.
There is also the issue of Sandy/Sandi/Sandie. Not that big a deal and my spelling is the most common anyway. Probably. I don’t know anyone else who is just Sandy.
One thing about my name that some people would find annoying is actually one of the few things that I like is the media connections. I love being compared to Sandy from Grease. I’ll have a young John travolta sing to me from a drive in. Tons of people call me Sandra D which I think is cute. I have also been compared to the dog from Annie, but it also doesn’t bother me. At least both of those connections make my name seem less weird to people from my generation.
So yeah, the nicknaminess and the datedness of my name always bothered me, but I like the connections and the simplicity, at least in regard to spelling.